Ensemble Closing?

This evening there's rumours abound that Ensemble Studios is set to close its doors following the release of Halo Wars.

Still slightly filed under "rumour", Shacknews has the heads-up from inside sources that Ensemble Studios, creators of one of the most popular RTS franchises of all time, Age of Empires, are to close up shop following the completion of the RTS Halo Wars.

Developers not working on the Halo Wars project will apparently be let go and employees still  working on Halo Wars have been "offered incentives" to keep plugging away at the new RTS which is due for release next year.

[Update]

In a further update to this story, Kotaku has further confirmation that Ensemble is indeed shutting down next year following a visit to the studio by Microsoft corporate VP Shane Kim. An official announcement is expected at some point later today.

Microsoft appears to be distancing themselves further from the PC market to concentrate on the 360 as PC game sales continue to dwindle.