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.
If you purchased Rock Band 2 you’ll find you can download 20 free songs if you register at 
The Xbox 360 saw a
hey,
i have not listen to this episode yet but, i would like to thank you jonah for including a battlefield news article included. is much apreciated from a fan of the series like me :3
@“Family” trailer didn’t sell Dead Island, co-op did
Yep, makes sense for a game to sell due to game play features.
@World of Tanks was dismissed as “cheap Asian stuff” – and GDC Europe
I also had no idea about GDC Europe …
World of Tanks seems a nice game, my brother plays it a lot and he likes it. It has a tech tree that does depart from realism a bit, true, but still, a very interesting game.
@Alleged “Microsoft Xbox Durango Development Kit” sold on eBay for $20,100
So it’s a prototype of the console … basically similar hardware to what the console will use … with a (yet dodgy until patched to be usable by the game devs) software dev kit that will also be provided by Microsoft for a very small fee …
Who buys that stuff?!
I mean sure, you have now (2012) a console that won’t be available (along with its games) until one -two years later,woot!! Now, what games are you going to play on it?
@QOTW:
Hmm, tough call. What usually sets apart MMOs is the fact that you have a lot of players sharing the same world and interacting with each other.
In Facebook games you don’t really do that; it more like Massive Multiple Instances of Single Player Online.
We’ll all miss you Paul! Best of luck on your recovery and you’ll be in our thoughts until your return.
Sorry for posting late in the last few weeks, but I’ve been saving podcasts for when I’m not on the computer and I fell a bit behind. To Paul: get well soon and you will definitely be missed in the next few podcasts.
@QOTW: I think that they should fit in some type of new sub-genre, because MMO to me means roaming a world where you see plenty of other people playing and you can interact with them, not just a game with a large number of people online with a few interactions.
hi guys!
dan, last week… you should have ignored jonah and read with tough sarge’s voice… ¬¬ damn you jonah!
@Deep Silver: “Family” trailer didn’t sell Dead Island, co-op did:
of course! if a game is good, it will sell itself, ads are just for that, TO ADVERTISE!
@DICE: Battlefield 4 isn’t set in the future, talks Bad Company 3:
i will not be getting MoH warfighter for the bf4 beta, just like in BF3, i will probably buy the limited edition and get early access anyways. i wish bf4 were the 2143… far future is so coooool!
and the bad company “series” has still a lot of potential! the single player is full of nice comedy and has a (descent) story. looking forward to see haggs sweetwater and sarge again while playing as marlow!
oh! and a coop drop in drop out campaign would fit nicely!
@QOTW:
mmo means massive MP online. it is simple to see if FB games fit that category, but “classic” mmo’s like WoW, DayZ mod (idk if 40~60 players are already considered as “massive”) and LotR might have distorted the MMO word meaning. summerizing, yes, they are, but not as harcore gamers are used to.
If Paul is listening, by now i hope your surgery did well and you are in a collorful paralel world in drugs enjoying yourself :3. save some pills ‘cuz i want to see how are you in the podcast while high 🙂
GET WELL SOON
@Dead Island
As someone who played Dead Island co-op, I can confirm that it sold the game. Besides, you need to be very shallow to buy a game just because of a trailer. Dead Island is what the Xbox needed for the past 6 years of its existence. A game with a world which can be freely explored by a group of people. And it has zombies wearing bikinis (if you like that kind of stuff). The games single player experience does not even remotely compare to that of Skyrim or Fable. It’s the world’s most boring and lonely zombie apocalypse.
@Battlefields
I must admit, I prefer Bad Company 2 to Battlefield 3. I hope they make a third one. Problem with setting a game in the future (i.e. 2142) is that you have to make up bullshit sci-fi weapons, which don’t appeal to everyone. An AK-47 is a trusted weapon which is loved by gamers and terrorists alike. Battlefield 2142 had walkers, emp granades and active camo. Such gameplay elements required a different set of skills which dominate modern day shooters. A COD fan wouldn’t like 2142.
@Facebook games
Facebook is not a gaming platform.
/thread
Can’t add much. The comments before mine explain it well. MMO are supposed to have people around. So that you can interact with others in real time. Or be like me, and play by yourself to feel alone but surrounded by people.