Microsoft Confirms Ensemble Closure

10 Sep 2008 at 12:29:54 by Andy Alderson

Microsoft has confirmed the closure of Ensemble Studios following the completion of Halo Wars.

In an official statement, Microsoft announced that the Ensemble leadership team will form a new studio which will provide support for Halo Wars as well as working on new titles for Microsoft Games Studios (MGS).

"The team at Ensemble has made invaluable contributions to the games industry with their “Age of Empires” and “Age of Mythology” games and with the highly anticipated release of “Halo Wars”, said the statement. "This decision does not reflect at all on Ensemble’s talent or the quality of “Halo Wars”. – in fact, many people who have had a chance to test drive “Halo Wars” agree that it is on track to being a fantastic game."

The statement goes on to say that the decision was "fiscally-rooted" and that Microsoft will aim to "place as many Ensemble employees who do not move to the newly formed studio into open positions within Microsoft as possible."

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