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Archive for January 30th, 2009

30
Jan

Halo Wars on YouTube, Good job Ensemble.

halowars

NextGenReport have uploaded a series of Halo Wars videos on YouTube showing the Halo Wars tutorial and campaigns available in the demo coming February 5th. Here is a link to the videos:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uoP-adqg7P4

The game looks outstanding and I look forward to playing it soon. It really looks like Ensemble will achieve their goal of bringing an RTS to the console successfully. The interface and tutorial make the game look very easy to get to grips with. I also note the outstanding sound and music. Stephen Rippy has really done a good job here and I already seem comments complementing the music on YouTube.  The music during game play and cut scenes really makes the game feel like an epic RTS. This is Ensemble’s last game and it looks like they are going to go out with a bang.

Hats off to them.

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30
Jan

Two new companies to form out of Ensemble

ensemble_studios_logo

Bruce Shelley confirmed in his blog that there will be two new companies forming out of Ensemble employees. One of those studios will be providing support for ESO (Ensemble Online) and Halo Wars and it is presumed that this studio will be run by Ensemble head Tony Goodman though this has not been confirmed. It is completely unknown as to who may be leading the other company. One might ask why Tony Goodman’s new studio is not employing all of Ensemble’s staff. This is because the new studio will not have enough resources and size to employ everyone unfortunately. However as both studios gain momentum there is nothing to stop a partnership in the future.

Strangely enough Microsoft have announced that they want to have a relationship with the “new” Ensemble and that there is very good possibility of games being created under the Microsoft Games Studio banner. There has been no news yet as to what projects the studio will be working on but AOE4 and Halo Wars 2 are possibilities.

Ensemble visionary Bruce Shelley will not be joining either company, sadly. Stay tuned for updates on these new companies.

Below are some links to recent news articles about Ensemble Studios:

Ensemble staff to form two new studios   Former employees will continue work on popular titles through new entities  – GamesIndustry.Biz

Ensemble involved in Halo Wars’ future

Microsoft Game Studios “very excited” about series potential – GamesIndustry.biz

Bruce Shelley Shares His Thoughts on Ensemble Studios Shutting Down –  Softpedia

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