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Giant Bomb Video Game News
Video Game News, Stories and Updates for the PS3, XBOX 360, PC, PSP, Wii, and DS
Added by Jeff Gerstmann on Sept. 9, 2008
Microsoft has confirmed rumors unearthed by Shacknews earlier today. Ensemble Studios will shut down following the the completion of its current project, Halo Wars.
The statement is a weird one, balancing the line between talking up the need to shut down the studio to keep Microsoft Game Studios "on its growth path" while going out of its way to say that the quality of Halo Wars has nothing to do with all this. I have to say, this line really stands out at me...
In fact, many people who have had a chance to test drive Halo Wars agree that it is on track to being a fantastic game.
...are they trying to convince us... or themselves? Well, I'm probably reading way too much into the statement. It can't be easy, writing stuff like that.
It goes on to say that a core group of Ensemble guys are going to form a new studio that will be responsible for post-release support for Halo Wars. Also, Microsoft has stated that it's attempting to place the downsized individuals into new positions.
Get your Shacknews on if you want to see the full statement. Best of luck to all of those who've been impacted by this decision.
24 Comments
A long "Nooooo!" to this news. Ensemble is legendary. At least they'll be pulling an Obsidian in wrangling their team back together to form a new studio, but still, I have to say it's a sad, sad day for those of us who grew up on Age of Empires, and still think it is the greatest RTS series of all time.
I'm not buying the corporate hyperbole. This isn't a good thing for Halo Wars.
this really sucks imagine that after making a potentially kickass game they get the boot thats messed up
how did this happen? I was under the impression that Ensemble was doing fairly well atm. Kinda strange if you ask me, I don't think this looks good for Halo Wars
Wow. Though most of the employees will allegedly still have jobs, closing Ensemble seems so strange. AOE has always been a fantastic (and successful, no?) franchise, and it's sad to see the original dev go away.
Microsoft Game Studios really looks like its doing all the wrong moves...
Dont they have a long term plan for stuff, like being able to actually make games, whos left ? Turn 10 ... is that it ? Forza is great but MS really needs solid studio support to have great games they cant count on timed exclusives all the time,, Nintendo and Sony have huge 1st party teams...
Dont they have a long term plan for stuff, like being able to actually make games, whos left ? Turn 10 ... is that it ? Forza is great but MS really needs solid studio support to have great games they cant count on timed exclusives all the time,, Nintendo and Sony have huge 1st party teams...
Love ensemble. I can't wait to play halo wars and anything else their new company is going to make.
This is a shame - AOE is legendary as the golden standard for RTS games. My friends and I still fire up AOE2 for a LAN match when we're done fragging each other at our little casual LAN parties. Sure, AOE3 wasn't perfect, but it was still pretty good, and it's sad to know there will never be an AOE4, or at least one made by the Ensemble guys.
Damn... Microsoft is totally screwing an epic developing company. Hopefully an AOE 4 will exist eventually...
I agree that this does not bode well for Halo Wars though. Not that I thought it was going to be particularly good anyway, but ehh. There was hope.
I agree that this does not bode well for Halo Wars though. Not that I thought it was going to be particularly good anyway, but ehh. There was hope.
This is indeed sad news. If the quality of their games was in question, I can understand their decision, but Ensemble studios has a fine track record. I just don't understand corporate heads.
Dude, NOOO!! Ensemble made some damn good games - I loved (and still love) Age of Empires. AoE2 was an amazing game. I hope Halo Wars turns out to be a good game, and the Ensemble crew goes on to make more awesome RTS's
Wow...so now do we need to shut down all the threads in the forums about Ensemble shutting down? o.O lol
Sucky move, M$, sucky move.
Calm down people. They probably added a bunch of staff to help make Halo Wars, and this is probably just part of slimming down and re-tooling for their next project.
Slimming down? I'm sorry, you must've not read the statement. They are CLOSING DOWN THE ENTIRE STUDIO!!! There's a difference.
It's like Sarah Silverman said: there is a difference between 6 million and 60 million. 60 million is inexcusable.
Ack! So who will be designing AoE IV? I was so looking forward to moving through the War, Atomic and Space ages.
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on Sept. 9, 2008