age-of-empires-iii posts

Last Sunday Microsoft held a 10 cent sale for the Complete Version of Age of Empires III at the Games For Windows Marketplace web site. The extra special sale of the historical RTS game caused many of the 10 cent orders to be fulfilled without a digital download CD key. Microsoft ran out of such keys due to the popularity of the sale and left many who bought Age of Empires III not able to play the game.

Now The Games For Windows Live Facebook page has confirmed that all of the CD keys for the game have been distributed to those folks who purchased it during the 10 cent sale. Microsoft stated, "Thanks so much for your patience, folks. We really appreciate it!"

Age of Empires III has been under a 10 cent sale since Microsoft put the super-low price on the RTS game earlier today on the Games For Windows Marketplace web site. Now Microsoft has announced via the Games For Windows Facebook page that because of the high demand they have temporarily run out of CD keys that are necessary to authenticate the game.

Microsoft states, "You can still buy the game during the sale, and we will auto-assign your key in the next week. There is no action needed on your part, this will be done automatically." The Age Of Empires III 10 cent sale (which includes the original game and the expansion packs The WarChiefs and the Asian Dynasties) ends in about 90 minutes at 1 am Eastern time.

Microsoft may have unceremoniously shut down Ensemble Studios earlier this year but the Age of Empires RTS series that Ensemble first created is still getting some attention from Microsoft. Today the company announced a new collection of Age of Empires III and its two expansion packs that will be released to stores on September 15.

The Complete Collection won't have any new content but if you haven't picked up the original game or its Warchiefs or Asian Dynasties expansion pack this would be a perfect way to catch up on one of the best PC RTS game series ever made Microsoft has said it has some kind of future plans for the Age series but so far there's been no word on what form that might take.

Tomorrow one of the most respected and well know PC game developers will shut their doors for the final time. Dallas-based Ensemble Studios, the creators of the multi-million selling Age of Empires RTS series, will be shut down by its owner Microsoft. Last week the developer completed its work on the Xbox 360 exclusive game Halo Wars.

Today Ensemble's co-founder Bruce Shelley posted up what will most likely be his final blog entry on the site (in fact sources at Ensemble have told Big Download that Microsoft plans to shut down the Ensemblestudios.com web site on Friday night). Shelley states, "It is hard to believe that the day has finally come when Ensemble Studios closes its doors and we move on to whatever is next." Throughout its history there hasn't been much turnover at the studio with Shelley saying, "60% of the people who worked on Age of Empires I were with the studio to the end."

While Ensemble is closing down, Shelley states, "There are at least two new studios being formed by ES employees and I expect both to do very well." One of the unnamed studios will be providing support for both Halo Wars after its release and the ESO online service for their Age of Empires/Mythology titles. The Agecommunity.com web site will also stay online. Shelley states, "We had a burst of games being played right around Christmas, suggesting a lot of Age of Empires III and The Asian Dynasties were received as gifts. The number of players online has jumped up to about 4000 now at peak times and the total number of ESO accounts is now over 800,000."

Shelley still has not revealed his future plans but his final blog statements express his thanks to everyone who has played an Ensemble-created game. He states, "On behalf of everyone at ES, past and present, thanks for your support over the years. Your feedback on our games made the next version better. Buying legitimate copies made it possible for us to keep making them. Thanks also to those who wrote us to express regrets about the end of our studio and even the end of this blog."

Gamers are still in shock at Microsoft's decision last month to shutter Ensemble Studios. The developer is still considered one of the best in the business and their Age of Empires/Mythology RTS games for the PC have sold tens of millions of copies. Since that decision, many fans of Age of Mythology and Age of Empires III have wondered what will happen to those game's online matchmaking servers which were handled by Ensemble.

The official Age of Empires III community web site has an answer for those folks, saying, "The ESO matchmaking service for Age of Mythology and Age of Empires 3 and the expansion packs will continue to be operated and be supported after Ensemble closes its doors." Microsoft is scheduled to close Ensemble in a couple of months after the team completes its work on their Xbox 360 RTS game Halo Wars (although a new independent team made up of former Ensemble team members will launch afterwards).