Why They're Powerful
The BioWare doctors are at the forefront of popular franchises like Baldur's Gate and the more recent Mass Effect. Their latest release, Mass Effect 3 has been the topic of heated fans' dislike for the infamous (famous?) ending.
The controversy and push-back proved to be enough to start change at BioWare, when the company announced that they'd be releasing a DLC with several new ending options. It was powerful enough for us to include the addition of BioWare fans as a candidate on the Power 40 list. The fans had their say. Now, BioWare is having its. The pendulum of power has swung back their way.
These guys would be be higher if they had some announced games, but BioWare more or less no-showed E3, and continued support of Star Wars: The Old Republic and Mass Effect 3 as well as an unclear amount of involvement with the next Command & Conquer is all these folks have announced. That's too little to rank them higher for now.