There is more information available on this subject at Ensemble Studios on the English Wikipedia. |
Ensemble Studios was a Microsoft-owned company that has developed several computer games, including the famous Age of Empires series. The company was founded in 1995 in Dallas by Tony Goodman, his brother, Rick Goodman, Bruce Shelley, and Brian Sullivan. After 2 years, it released its first game, Age of Empires. In May 2001, Microsoft acquired the company. The company employed about 100 people, including Bruce Shelley, Graeme Devine and Sandy Petersen.
The company cooperated with Bungie to create one of the Halo game projects, Halo Wars. Frank O'Connor announced in one of his weekly updates that Ensemble was designing the entire game, with Bungie playing a supporting role to ensure the story would fit in the Halo Universe.
On September 10, 2008, Ensemble Studios announced that it would be closing after Halo Wars was released. Dave Pottinger, Lead Designer of Halo Wars, issued a response assuring that the quality of the game would not be affected. Pottinger's response can be found on the game's home page. Post-release support for the game is being provided by Robot Entertainment, where roughly half of Ensemble's crew went after the close.
Name | Release Date | Genre |
---|---|---|
Age of Empires | 1997 | RTS |
Age of Empires: The Rise of Rome | 1998 | Expansion pack |
Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings | 1999 | RTS |
Age of Empires II: The Conquerors | 2000 | Expansion pack |
Age of Mythology | 2002 | RTS |
Age of Mythology: The Titans | 2003 | Expansion pack |
Age of Empires III | 2005 | RTS |
Age of Empires III: The WarChiefs | 2006 | Expansion pack |
Age of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties[1] | 2007 | Expansion pack |
Halo Wars | 2009 | RTS |
Untitled Halo MMO | Cancelled | MMORPG |
Known Employees[]
Sources[]
- ↑ Co-developed with Big Huge Games.