In 1995 Ensemble Studios formed as an independent studio and kicked out a little game franchise known as Age of Empires. The title has received many accolades from the first in the franchise extended out to all the Age of Empires releases and spin-offs, all-in-all selling millions of copies.
Ensemble Studios had a mission “to create great games and a great place to work,” says Bruce Shelley from Ensemble Studios. Bruce Shelley also helped design Sid Meier’s Civilization and Railroad Tycoon with MicroProse prior to his work at Ensemble Studios. Now, however, he’s a bit upset at the closing of Ensemble Studios because they were profitable, created top-quality titles and had a great working environment.
Ensemble Studios, from his perspective at least, was a place you’d go to work and be happy with what you’re doing. When you’re working along nicely and become blind-sided by the news, it’s not surprising he didn’t take it lightly.
“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.” (ensemblestudios.com)
What’s the future plans for Ensemble Studios? As we’ve stated before, they plan to live on in spirit, within the bounds of a new name and a new game plan. “I believe the spirit and mission of ES will be carried forward in this new company if enough of the key leaders agree to take part, which I expect to happen. There has been no announcement about what the new studio will be working on when it gets going,” says Shelley.
This is a horrible way to have to launch a hot new intellectual property. Usually creating a new title with a building fanbase would lead to excitement, parties and high hopes for the future of the franchise. Instead, people will be dusting off their resume in hopes to continue a life of game development.
Hopefully the leaders will indeed form a brand new company and build brand new hot products with their entire staff intact. Then, take their titles to a different publisher (besides Microsoft) and make some money and fans.
@Iphone: I’m with Paul, I got and have had a Iphone 4 for about 2 years now, I don’t like the idea of rushing to get things when they are first released, I take a while getting new consoles and phones.
@Wasteland 2: I am surprised Jonah didn’t mention more of the Kickstarter games that have been successfully released when Paul said he knew of only one (Wasteland 2). There is also FTL, Broken Age, Shadowgate, & Shadowrun Returns. Pillar’s of Eternity is coming out and I’m sure can be added to this list soon as well. If you only focus on the ones that fail you’re going to miss the ones that are succeeding.
Wasteland 2 has been fun so far, I like being able to create a party unlike in Fallout where it’s just you and some NPC’s. I also suggest trying to use energy weapons, they seem to be very powerful to me.
@Zelda rumors: I don’t recall or remember any of these but I do agree with Paul on the whole feeling something is there if you could just jump one more block or open a locked door. You want to know what’s there, humans love mysteries.
I do remember the stories about trying to find the lost level of Super Mario, which was actually true.
There are a slew of crazy Harry Potter theories and I do remember the “Weasley is our King”
@QotW: As for falling for any game Rumors I don’t think I really did, most of the time I had sources to validate if it was true or not. If I couldn’t do it or seemed astronomicaly impossible I figured it was fake. However the closest would be when Areis died in FF7 (I’d say spoiler warning but if you haven’t played it yet your’re probably never going to). I wanted there to be a way to save her since you could actually save Gremio in Suikoden, you can’t fault the logic of a angsty teenager.
The more I thought about it though the more I realized she had to die for the story, it was her death that brings about the Holy spell to save the world from Sephiroths Meteo. So yes listen to Paul if it doesn’t make sense in the story narrative, it probably isn’t true and if it is the game isn’t worth your time.
@iPhone yoga
It seems that someone did not pay attention during their physics lessons on the property of metals. I am sticking to my iPhone 4S. Last thing I need is my phone going all Beyoncé on me. But I am sure Apple will fix it. When they had problems with cracking screens, someone released a screen protector which was used for attack helicopter wind shields. You know, just in case you want to check your Facebook in a middle of a war zone.
@Windows NEIN!
Oh Lord, another Windows edition. When will Microsoft understand that the best way to fix a mistake is to never make it in the first place. I just hope that they were reading their feedback and will make a definitive windows experience. Considering that there is no alternative on the market, a good new windows is a necessity.
@QOTW
I don’t browse the net that much, so I avoid most of the rumours. If I do hear something, I triple check it for confirmation. I think my favourite rumour was the Halo 2 Scarab Gun. It was a plasma rifle that shot massive blasts of energy akin to the gigantic Scarab walking tank. It sounded like a hoax, until people proved that it actually exists. This set of a chain of rumours of other hidden weapons all across the game. Countless hours were spent in chasing ghosts in that game. A good marketing ploy if I ever saw one. My second favourite Bungie rumour is that Destiny has a storyline. Apparently it’s hidden somewhere deep deep within the game’s code and only the most dedicated players can find it.