Ensemble Studios
| Ensemble Studios
|
|
|---|---|
 |
|
| legal form | Department of Microsoft |
| founding | 1995 |
| resolution | 2009 |
| Seat | Dallas , United States |
| Branch | Game software |
| Website | www.ensemblestudios.com |
Ensemble Studios was a Microsoft- owned company that developed computer games . His biggest success was Age of Empires . It closed after the release of Halo Wars.
history
Ensemble Studios was in 1995 Dallas ( Texas ) by Tony Goodman , his brother Rick Goodman , Bruce Shelley , and Brian Sullivan founded. Two years later, the first game Age of Empires appeared . Microsoft took over the company in 2001 . As of 2006, Ensemble Studios employed around 100 people, including Bruce Shelley, Graeme Devine and Sandy Petersen.
The company's employees came from different backgrounds: both high school graduates and PhDs in philosophy were employed there.
On September 9, 2008, Microsoft confirmed previous rumors about the breakup of Ensemble and announced the closure of the studio after work on HALO Wars was over.
As a result of the breakup, Tony Goodman founded Robot Entertainment with 45 developers . David Rippy also started an independent development studio with Bonfire Studios . Then the Windstorm Studios and Newtoy , which is currently developing a game for the iPhone , also emerged. Some employees from Ensemble Studios worked at Forgotten Empires on the development of Age of Empires II: HD Edition .
Games
The most successful development by Ensemble Studios is the Age-of-Empires series. GameStar magazine wrote about it in 2000: "With Age of Empires , the real-time strategy game grew up." The successors Age of Empires II: Age of Kings and Age of Mythology were also very successful. Ensemble also always published extensions (so-called "expansion packs") for the games they developed.
On October 18, 2005, Ensemble Studios released Age of Empires III . It is the continuation of Age of Empires II (Middle Ages) and has the conquest of America by the Europeans as a background.
The last game the studio worked on is the real-time strategy game Halo Wars, which is based on the Unreal Engine 3 .
The Age of Empires and Age of Empires II games are based on the Genie Engine , the Age of Mythology and Age of Empires III games are based on the Bang! Engine .
| publication | Surname | Abbreviation |
|---|---|---|
| 1997 | Age of Empires | AoE |
| 1998 | Age of Empires: The Rise of Rome | RoR or AoR |
| 1999 | Age of Empires II | AoK or AoE2 |
| 2000 | Age of Empires II: The Conquerors | AoC or TC |
| 2001 | Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds | |
| 2002 | Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds: Clone Campaigns | |
| 2002 | Age of Mythology | AoM |
| 2003 | Age of Mythology: The Titans | AoT |
| 2005 | Age of Empires III | AoE3 |
| 2006 | Age of Empires III: The WarChiefs | AoEWC or TWC |
| 2007 | Age of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties | AoE TAD |
| 2009 | Halo Wars |
Web links
- Ensemble Studios at MobyGames (English)
Individual evidence
- ^ Ensemble Closing Confirmed, New Studio to Form . In: Shacknews . Retrieved September 10, 2008.
- ↑ http://winfuture.de/news,45300.html Retrieved on February 18, 2009
- ↑ http://www.robotentertainment.com/PressRelease.htm ( Memento of February 21, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Retrieved on February 18, 2009
- ↑ http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=22399
- ↑ http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=22807
- ↑ http://www.joystiq.com/2009/05/09/ex-ensemble-studios-devs-form-new-studio-working-on-the-iphone/
- ↑ http://www.forgottenempires.net/former-ensemble-studios-lead-engineers-join-fe-team
- ↑ http://store.steampowered.com/app/356500/STAR_WARS_Galactic_Battlegrounds_Saga/?l=german
- ↑ http://store.steampowered.com/app/356500/STAR_WARS_Galactic_Battlegrounds_Saga/?l=german