rot in hell microsoft

[Fragamemnon]

motherfuckers just killed ensemble  :'(

September 9, 2008

Report: Microsoft's Ensemble Studios Laying Off Non-Halo Wars Staff

Microsoft plans to shut down subsidiary developer Ensemble Studios after the release of its upcoming release Halo Wars, Gamasutra has learned from industry sources.

According to statements made by those sources, the majority of staff were laid off this morning. Shacknews is separately reporting that developers attached to the Halo Wars project have been offered incentives to remain at Ensemble until the game ships. Its last announced release projection was early 2009.

Founded in 1995 and located in Dallas, Ensemble is known for its long-running Age of Empires series of historically-themed PC real-time strategy games. It was acquired by Microsoft in 2001.

The company's most recent full game, Age of Empires III, was a commercial success with over two million copies sold, but it is less clear how its two subsequent expansion packs fared.

Speaking to Gamasutra, a Microsoft representative declined to issue a statement but claimed an official response is en route.

Relic and Blizzard are the only top tier RTS developers left (no, EALA doesn't count IMO). Sad world, I am going to  go ecoboom with my dutch HC deck tonight to help ease the pain.

[Sho Nuff]

ACK

[duckman2000]

Damn

But hey, at least they are keeping the Halo dudes!

Halobox

[y2kev]

Hmmmm.....

[MrAngryFace]

sux. Ensemble was one of the greats

[Fragamemnon]

Damn

But hey, at least they are keeping the Halo dudes!

Halobox

They could have built another Age of Empires/Mythology game for the PC for a third of the time/cost as Halo Wars and sold 3 times as much as that bomb is going to sell. What complete garbage.

[Crushed]

attack microsoft with trebuchets

[Third]

So they're shutting off the studio after Halo Wars is completed?

The game must be terrible then...

[TVC15]

So they're shutting off the studio after Halo Wars is completed?

The game must be terrible then...

Only because RTSes on consoles are, by default, mediocre.  I had this game written off as shit when it was first announced, and I figured it was a waste of Ensemble's talent.  I guess MS just doesn't care about PC development so much anymore, and since Ensemble doesn't easily fit into the console picture. . .

Makes me wonder how safe Aces is.

[JustinP]

I guess MS just doesn't care about PC development so much anymore

welcome to the year 2001

[demi]

mweeheehee

[WrikaWrek]

I'm jumping ship, fuck these guys, Xbox live ain't all that fuckheads, i want some games too. And Halo isn't enough.

They keep killing their own devs, they lose 3rd party devs, kill their own IPS (Shadow Run had massive potential), wtf are these guys doing?

Fuck MS, you stink of 20th Fox right now.

[MrAngryFace]

I'm jumping ship, fuck these guys, Xbox live ain't all that fuckheads, i want some games too. And Halo isn't enough.

They keep killing their own devs, they lose 3rd party devs, kill their own IPS (Shadow Run had massive potential), wtf are these guys doing?

Fuck MS, you stink of 20th Fox right now.

wha? where you gonna go for more games? Sony? Nintendo?

[JustinP]

I'm jumping ship, fuck these guys, Xbox live ain't all that fuckheads, i want some games too. And Halo isn't enough.

They keep killing their own devs, they lose 3rd party devs, kill their own IPS (Shadow Run had massive potential), wtf are these guys doing?

Fuck MS, you stink of 20th Fox right now.

[MCD]

pc gaming 

[radioheadrule83]

I'm jumping ship, fuck these guys, Xbox live ain't all that fuckheads, i want some games too. And Halo isn't enough.

They keep killing their own devs, they lose 3rd party devs, kill their own IPS (Shadow Run had massive potential), wtf are these guys doing?

Fuck MS, you stink of 20th Fox right now.

wha? where you gonna go for more games? Sony? Nintendo?

My feelings exactly. Its not like either of those are better (I say that as a big Wii supporter and PS3 owner).

In fact I find myself wanting to sell my PS3 lately, I use it mainly as a TVersity box and download a lot of demos that make me realise I don't want to buy the full games. I kind of wish Metal Gear had come out on 360 so I could have made the choice that has the better online service and more games readily available. I'm not buying into the LBP hype, but yeah that and some other stuff look pretty good. I just feel like a fucking idiot for spending £300+ on this thing.

[Mrbob]

Another blemish against the fratbox brand.

Epic games, take a look.  This is you in five years.  MS will chew you up and spit you out once Gears isn't money grubbing anymore.

[JustinP]

Another blemish against the fratbox brand.

Epic games, take a look.  This is you in five years.  MS will chew you up and spit you out once Gears isn't money grubbing anymore.

...Epic would first need to sell themselves to microsoft. 

[WrikaWrek]

I'm jumping ship, fuck these guys, Xbox live ain't all that fuckheads, i want some games too. And Halo isn't enough.

They keep killing their own devs, they lose 3rd party devs, kill their own IPS (Shadow Run had massive potential), wtf are these guys doing?

Fuck MS, you stink of 20th Fox right now.

wha? where you gonna go for more games? Sony? Nintendo?

Damn right i'm gonna go to Sony. What does MS have for next year? Nothing that's what. Alan Wake is probably gonna look like the 2nd coming of Tomagoshi once MS has had their "new casual style" way with it.

Sony has Infamous man, that looks bitchin, and it has Killzone 2, that also looks bitchin. What does MS have?

Fucking Ninja Bladen. I'm bouncing, someone give me a Sony jacket, there's nothing else to be said about this MS joint that hasn't already been said for Afghanistan, it's bombed out and depleted.  

[Mrbob]

Another blemish against the fratbox brand.

Epic games, take a look.  This is you in five years.  MS will chew you up and spit you out once Gears isn't money grubbing anymore.

...Epic would first need to sell themselves to microsoft. 

It is coming. 

[MCD]

Epic isn't part of MGS you silly.

it's pretty obvious that MS are trying to publish instead of developing internally, just like their new XBLA studio.

edit: why would a Epic, a game engine maker, sell themselves to MS?

[MrAngryFace]

What does Sony have next year? LBP? Empty promises. You might as well vote for McCain you knee-jerk distinguished mentally-challenged fellow.

[Mrbob]

I'm jumping ship, fuck these guys, Xbox live ain't all that fuckheads, i want some games too. And Halo isn't enough.

wha? where you gonna go for more games? Sony? Nintendo?

Damn right i'm gonna go to Sony. What does MS have for next year? Nothing that's what. Alan Wake is probably gonna look like the 2nd coming of Tomagoshi once MS has had their "new casual style" way with it.

Sony has Infamous man, that looks bitchin, and it has Killzone 2, that also looks bitchin. What does MS have?

Fucking Ninja Bladen. I'm bouncing, someone give me a Sony jacket, there's nothing else to be said about this MS joint that hasn't already been said for Afghanistan, it's bombed out and depleted.  

PS3 future

Next Xbox is fucked.  

[MrAngryFace]

I'm jumping ship, fuck these guys, Xbox live ain't all that fuckheads, i want some games too. And Halo isn't enough.

They keep killing their own devs, they lose 3rd party devs, kill their own IPS (Shadow Run had massive potential), wtf are these guys doing?

Fuck MS, you stink of 20th Fox right now.

wha? where you gonna go for more games? Sony? Nintendo?

My feelings exactly. Its not like either of those are better (I say that as a big Wii supporter and PS3 owner).

In fact I find myself wanting to sell my PS3 lately, I use it mainly as a TVersity box and download a lot of demos that make me realise I don't want to buy the full games. I kind of wish Metal Gear had come out on 360 so I could have made the choice that has the better online service and more games readily available. I'm not buying into the LBP hype, but yeah that and some other stuff look pretty good. I just feel like a fucking idiot for spending £300+ on this thing.

Id sell my ps3 if it wasnt the best bluray player on the makert and hardware backward compat

[Third]

What does Sony have next year? LBP? Empty promises. You might as well vote for McCain you knee-jerk distinguished mentally-challenged fellow.

LBP is this year.
Sony has InFamous, Killzone 2, Tekken 6, Heavy Rain and God of War 3 as big 2009 titles.
And probably a new Uncharted too.

[MCD]

also, it's pretty funny wrika is crying about a pc developer when he is mainly a console cigarillo.

drama fegs.

[WrikaWrek]

also, it's pretty funny wrika is crying about a pc developer when he is mainly a console cigarillo.

drama distinguished effete fellows.

Fuck you Mcqueen.

You can try turn a blind eye on it saying they are a PC developer, but they were making a console exclusive title you faggit

[MCD]

baaaaaaaw

like you were going to play it anyway lol.

[MrAngryFace]

What does Sony have next year? LBP? Empty promises. You might as well vote for McCain you knee-jerk distinguished mentally-challenged fellow.

LBP is this year.
Sony has InFamous, Killzone 2, Tekken 6, Heavy Rain and God of War 3 as big 2009 titles.
And probably a new Uncharted too.

A new crappy overhyped uncharted? great.

[Eel O'Brian]

looks at my selection of games for the fratbox

looks at my selection of roms for the wii

looks at my selection of game for the ps3

giant fucking shrug

smh at console fanboys, the testicle cancer of gaming

[Joe Molotov]

 :'( PC Gaming  :'(

[pilonv1]

cunts, i spent my university life playing AOE2. i hate you

[Oblivion]

I don't get it. Why would MS shut them down? Isn't the Age of series pretty damn successful?

[CajoleJuice]

what the fuck

[Joe Molotov]

Imma slap Borys in the face with my penis.

[cool breeze]

Can we add Halo's popularity to the list of things killing gaming along side the Wii and people who think the iPod is a viable game platform?

 

[demi]

Imma slap Borys in the face with my penis.

mmmm

[Third]

LBP is this year.

Barbie dress up dolls for Playstation fans! wooot!

Sony has InFamous

might actually be good
 

Killzone 2

likely to be a good looking dung ball

Tekken 6

also on x360

Heavy Rain

Dragons Lair for the 2000s!

GoW3

2010 - by which time will anyone of note still be working on that project? Bailout seems to be the key word there.

And probably a new Uncharted too.

Exhalted averageness , please shower me with a follow up of more average!

you forgot Wipeout HD
the stop gap game to tie up over to the REAL new wipeout - quickly knocked together in nigh on 3 years!
:Bow Cell - the best weapon against the PS3

Well, MS has Alan Vaporwake and Splintwhere Cell V and of course Halo Wars who just killed the Ensemble Studios.

2009 looks better for Ps3 than for X360. IMO
Both lists look better than Wii's one though lol.

[Eel O'Brian]

Age of Mythology is great so far, think I will pick up some more AO games in their honor, i suppose they'll all run on my laptop

[cool breeze]

2009 (and beyond) only look better for the PS3 because Sony likes to show it's hand early.  Don't forget that Gears 2 was revealed earlier this year.  Microsoft will announce it's '09 line up early next year and it probably will be great.  The only real problem with the 360 in '09 is that if you weren't fatigued of the Halo series yet, you sure as hell will be with the thee or four games that will most likely be out.  Outside of the Halo stuff, you can expect more games from Rare, Mass Effect 2, Too Human 2, Crackdown 2 (hopefully).  MS really has a lot to offer, and Nintendo is in a similar position, but I think the potential things MS can pull out are far more interesting.  I am still puling for xaggle around when RE5 comes out.

And while KZ2 (I read some bad things about the beta), Infamous, etc. can turn out amazing, I think the strongest game the PS3 has in the future is Versus XIII.

SHUT THE FUCK UP.

Mourn Ensemble. :'( :'( :'(

They will reappear at some point or another.  I mean, this isn't the team behind The Force Unleashed or Fracture where they aren't really that great.  EA should just snatch up all of them and let them open up a new studio.

[Brehvolution]

09 list warz!!!!!!!

Don't be fooled. XFE will still buy all those games.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

Unless the news of a child has changed him.

[close]

[y2kev]

STFU borys, not one sfan posted before you until Zero Hero (who didn't post ANYTHING) on this fucking page.

[y2kev]

STFU borys, not one sfan posted before you until Zero Hero (who didn't post ANYTHING) on this fucking page.

Hey man I open this thread and instead of seeing ENSEMBLE talk I see LBP being thrown around.

Is this the magic PS3 saviour game that will shit up every single gaming thread until it releases?

WHO BROUGHT UP LBP

LOOK AT THE NAME OF THE POSTER

[MrSingh]

:Bow Cell - the best weapon against the PS3

The emperor is in good form today.

[Mrbob]

Ok, what the heck does the acronym SMH stand for.

[cool breeze]

EA should just snatch up all of them and let them open up a new studio.

is that how EA role though?

they've destroyed a fair few teams too :pouroutBullfrog

This is the new EA.  They are pretty awesome.

Ok, what the heck does the acronym SMH stand for.

Suck my horn.

[demi]

Ok, what the heck does the acronym SMH stand for.

smh

[WrikaWrek]

Ok, what the heck does the acronym SMH stand for.

You really don't know?

Ugh, smh

[Van Cruncheon]

shakin mah head

[AdmiralViscen]

Shit is gay, gaming sucks

[drohne]

do rare next

[JustinP]

How can SFAG distinguished mentally-challenged fellows turn a fucking PC developer dieing thread into a HYPE WORTHLESS PS3 SHIT THAT WONT SELL SHIT one?

smh

SMH

1. ensemble a PC dev.. working on a console exclusive RTS .  NONE of microsoft's disposable bitch companies can be considered PC devs -- at least not today.  microsoft has been killing PC gaming and moving those resources to the xbox for quite a while now.  get with the program, borys. 

2.  what sfags are you talking about?  wrikawrek, who seems to have gone insane? 

edit:

[pilonv1]

list wars rawr

[TVC15]

http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/54654



WTF

[pilonv1]

epid fail m$

[TVC15]

I don't really give a fuck about 360 games from a strategy studio.

Yup.  RTS games designed around a console will be mediocre at best.  I don't want shitty port ups from 360 to PC.

[Mrbob]

http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/54654



WTF

Fuck off MS.

Now when I get Age of Mythology 2 it will be by some shit team. 

[y2kev]

more like enbomble

[Purple Filth]

What the fuck happened in this thread. 

[Joe Molotov]

They're probably going to force Ensemble Lite to make dumbed down console games now like they did with Epic and Bioware. Oh wait, they're already doing that.  :'(