Blue's News: Comments - Ensemble Says Goodbye

Ensemble Says Goodbye

[Sep 23, 2008, 09:19 am ET] - Share - Viewing Comments

The Ensemble Studios Website has an official goodbye from the studios, following the recent revelation that Microsoft is closing it down (story). Bruce Shelley recaps some of the circumstances surrounding the move, and describes plans going forward to finish up Halo Wars, get started with "Newco," the studio being formed by Ensemble's Tony Goodman that is offering several ES staffers new positions (Shelley says he does not expect to be joining them), and his plans to continue with blog updates in the future. The opening paragraph describes the shock the studio experienced at all this: "I have mentioned with regret the closing of several quality game studios over the past several years but I never considered that ES would join the list. Everyone at our studio was shocked, and I think remains very disappointed that this is going to happen. I believe we thought we were immune to shut-down talk because our published games have done so well and have been so profitable. Plus we felt we had built a really stable (low-turnover), talented, hard-working, and creative team, which is not easy to do. We thought we were among the best studios in the world, and that may be true, but we don’t fit in the future plans of MGS as an internal studio so we’re out." Thanks The Patches Scrolls.

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27.	No subject	Sep 24, 2008, 08:12	dryden555
	Verno it might make sense if Halo Wars is internally regarded by MS as an expensive bomb. It also bears mentioning that RTS games dont work well on a console and consoles are where the $$ are these days. MS is likely looking at the bottom-line

26.	Re: No subject	Sep 24, 2008, 03:14	CreamyBlood
	I liked the first two Age of Empires ( never tried the third ) as well as Age of Mythology, possibly because I'm an archeology/anthropology/history buff. I'm not a massive RTS fan, I just play the single player campaigns as I get my ass kicked online before I can blink. I also liked Homeworld One and Two, those were fun. I especially enjoyed Nexus: The Jupiter Incident but I'm not sure what category that falls into.

25.	No subject	Sep 24, 2008, 00:03	Verno
	Exactly, 2.5 million copies and they still canned the studio. Assuming a generous $30.00 cost(lower than retail to average out the bundle sales that MS likes to do with new computers) it's still a wildly profitable franchise. This whole thing just doesn't make sense.

24.	Re: No subject	Sep 23, 2008, 21:07	sponge
	AoEIII was in the top10 NPD for 3 months running, a few of those selling over 250k units. I bet it easily topped a million over the course of it's lifetime. According to Wikipedia, AoE3 sold 2.5 million, which was somehow beneath the 3 million of the first AoE. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_video_games

23.	Re: ...	Sep 23, 2008, 20:57	Ruffiana
	Starcraft II is an MMO? When did that happen?

22.	Re: No subject	Sep 23, 2008, 19:43	OneEye
	You people are forgetting Age of Mythology which was a pretty darn good game and a decent seller.

21.	Re: No subject	Sep 23, 2008, 17:37	Fuzzmatang
	Yeah they should have called it Halo 4 like Bethesda did with Fallout.

20.	No subject	Sep 23, 2008, 16:28	dryden555
	Halo Wars may not be so good as it is about to be released, so MS decided to pull the plug on Ensemble. Its one plausible reason.

19.	No subject	Sep 23, 2008, 16:10	Verno
	Eh, AoEIII suffered from being named AoEIII I'm quoting you to emphasize my point but this is meant for the other dude - it didn't exactly suffer at retail either. Metacritic is fine and all but it has little bearing as anything other than an index of game reviews. Some of the best reviewed games in the history of PC gaming have been some of the worst sellers too. AoEIII was in the top10 NPD for 3 months running, a few of those selling over 250k units. I bet it easily topped a million over the course of it's lifetime. Perception of what the game was like on sites like this didn't really affect it at retail. I personally thought it wasn't enough of an upgrade from AoEII but the expansion packs made up the difference and I wasn't displeased with the purchases at all. I'd buy another one if Microsoft hadn't shitcanned it

18.	Re: ...	Sep 23, 2008, 15:56	MattyC
	People didn't like AoEIII as much as the previous games, Eh, AoEIII suffered from being named AoEIII. Had it been something else people probably would have liked it more. 2 may not have been StarCraft, but it was a damn good multiplayer game. People expected that and more in the next title. I am not saying they are wrong to think that way, I am just saying I think people might have viewed the game differently had it been something other than a sequel. That said, 3 wasn't a bad game at all. It had a beautiful engine, and it filled in during a sort of dead period for more traditional RTS games. I actually had a pretty good time with it. Early on it had balance issues, but those were ironed out in a reasonable amount of time. The city leveling and the cards were fun for me as well. Sort of like in RB6:Vegas/2 with the character advancement, except I would say that Age3 was a better game than Vegas heh. This message was edited at Sep 23, 15:57.

17.	Re: ...	Sep 23, 2008, 15:49	runab0ut
	Relic - makers of DoW/Homeworld and Company of Heroes

16.	Re: ...	Sep 23, 2008, 15:42	Beamer
	They were primarily an RTS studio. Quick, name another RTS studio. Westwood is gone. Cavedog is gone. Blizzard is an MMORPG studio. There are ones out there, and games still doing decently. Supreme Commander, World in Conflict, Rise of Nations... but they're getting few and far between. At least they're still made, I suppose. I'm a big turn-based fan and that's pretty well dead.




	------------- Music for the discerning: http://www.deathwishinc.com http://www.hydrahead.com http://www.painkillerrecords.com

15.	...	Sep 23, 2008, 15:14	theyarecomingforyou
	I'd be quite happy playing AoE9 as long as they keep improving the series as they go. But isn't that the point? People didn't like AoEIII as much as the previous games, at least from the people here; also, Metacritic shows AoEII getting 92 and AoEIII getting 81. I imagine that the 3-4yrs between releases was also an issue for Microsoft, as though the games may have sold well they still have to keep on the staff. I can certainly understand Microsoft's decision, though have to say I think it's a bit disappointing. A developer doesn't need to reinvent the wheel, Blizzard has shown that game after game. Indeed, but Blizzard has a consistently higher quality than most other developers. I can only think of Valve in terms of a better consistency, though they don't exactly have a high pace of releases. The Grand Theft Auto series also has a very high consistency. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Founder of the "I Hate Smiley Fitz" society Remember: Riley has autism. He has trouble communicating, and in an overstimulating environment, he can get frightened and run away, leaving his parents frantic. - Auburn




	Founder of the "I Hate Smiley Fitz, n00bdog and Twonky" society CPU upgrade? Check. Graphics upgrade? Not sure. I can wait for DX11 or grab a second 4870 now... or do both. Hmmm.

14.	No subject	Sep 23, 2008, 14:44	MMORPGHoD
	Ha, just goes to show you how MS is hardly trying to save PC gaming. They can't even save their own PC game development studio. I can see how a RTS game wouldn't fit into their console plans.

13.	Re: No subject	Sep 23, 2008, 14:42	Cutter
	Why would they be surprised? No one is ever safe from the Borg.




	The Ballad of Gay Tony

12.	No subject	Sep 23, 2008, 14:32	Verno
	I loved the Age of Empires series and judging by their sales figures, so did a lot of people. A developer doesn't need to reinvent the wheel, Blizzard has shown that game after game. I'd be quite happy playing AoE9 as long as they keep improving the series as they go.

11.	...	Sep 23, 2008, 14:14	theyarecomingforyou
	that is a big something, that is like saying I am only GOD We're talking about the last good game they released being nearly a decade ago. I don't dispute the significance of AoE - in fact I acknowledge it - but a company has to keep releasing good games. The strange thing is that Halo Wars looks to be quite good. Hopefully the talent will remain in the industry, as there's definitely some good people there. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Founder of the "I Hate Smiley Fitz" society Remember: Riley has autism. He has trouble communicating, and in an overstimulating environment, he can get frightened and run away, leaving his parents frantic. - Auburn




	Founder of the "I Hate Smiley Fitz, n00bdog and Twonky" society CPU upgrade? Check. Graphics upgrade? Not sure. I can wait for DX11 or grab a second 4870 now... or do both. Hmmm.

10.	Re: No subject	Sep 23, 2008, 13:54	loomy
	it is a loss when a coherent successful entity is broken up. > To be fair all they've really done is the AoE series that is a big something, that is like saying I am only GOD

9.	Re: ...	Sep 23, 2008, 13:37	Endo
	I had a real blast with multiplayer over a LAN, though I got fed up with the game constantly losing sync. Yeah I've definitely had some good times playing it over a LAN as well. But the real fun factor just isn't there like it is in other RTSs from that era, such as Starcraft or Red Alert 2. My biggest annoyance with the game has always been the complete lack of discipline in troops once they get within combat range. Sure, you can set them up in a variety of formations, which they will promptly abandon the second it actually starts to matter. Second biggest annoyance is all the micromanagement, particularly with trebuchets. All in all, it's an OK RTS when you've got nothing better, but like I said, not that good of a game.

8.	Re: ...	Sep 23, 2008, 12:18	InBlack
	I dont know why everyone is so surprised, if you sell your company to a corporate giant then you have to expect shit like this to happen.




	I have a nifty blue line!

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