age-of-mythology posts

The PC game download-subscription service GameTap continues to add new games from Microsoft's extensive library of titles. This week the service adds Age of Mythology to its premium subscription service. The RTS game was first released in 2002 from the now shut down Ensemble Studios. It was a fantasy-themed departure from the developer's Age of Empires series and was also Ensemble's first 3D RTS game.

If you like free games (and who doesn't) GameTap has also temporarily added the original Fallout RPG from Interplay to its free games line-up. You can play the title for the cost of $0 for the next week. Oh, and you can check out some very funny GameTap TV ads from the Mega64 guys after the jump:

One of the big news stories in PC gaming in 2008 was the announcement that Microsoft was going to shut down Ensemble Studios, creators of the multi-million selling RTS game Age of Empires. The Crispy Gamer web site has decided to do a three part look back at the history of Ensemble and got some quotes from the company's founders, currently and former Ensemble team members and other game industry members.'

The history goes through the studio's origins as a spin-off of a business software company in 1995 to making the first Age of Empires title (another project at Ensemble, a fantasy strategy game called Sorcerer, was cancelled in order to finish Age of Empires). Microsoft bought the Dallas-based Ensemble in 2001 after the release of Age of Empires II. The final part of the feature has details on the making of Age of Empires III, how Ensemble got the Halo Wars gig and the shock over Microsoft's decision to shut down the studio after Halo Wars' completion.

The game industry is still reeling from the news last month that Age of Empires creators Ensemble Studios will be shut down in a few months, thanks to a business decision by its owner Microsoft. While a number of Ensemble team members will reform and launch a new independent studio it's clear that team members still don't understand Microsoft's reasoning for Ensemble's shutdown.

Shacknews chatted with Ensemble's director of technology Dave Pottinger who openly states, "...it's Microsoft's right to decide where they wanna put their money. Personally we all disagree with the decision. " He added, "...it honestly doesn't make a lot of sense. But that's their prerogative." Pottinger says that while Microsoft supposedly has a plan to remain profitable with their game business even the huge success of their Age of Empires/Age of Mythology RTS game wasn't enough for Microsoft to keep Ensemble going. Pottinger still seems mystified at the decision, saying, "Yeah, I think we made, what, 700 million dollars total on the Age franchise"

Pottinger seems to know some plans Microsoft has for the future of the Age of Empires series but states, " ...I'm not really at liberty to discuss it. But it will carry on. It's a great franchise." He also talked about the recent revelation that Ensemble was working on a now cancelled MMO based on Bungie's Halo shooter series. Pottinger states that at one point Ensemble had about 40 people on the project but, "...the new bosses thought it wasn't the best idea anymore. It had actually been green-lit, and then it got cancelled after that."

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).

As previously rumored, Microsoft is indeed closing down its Dallas based Ensemble Studios development company. Here is the full statement from Microsoft:

Microsoft has decided to close Ensemble Studios following the completion of "Halo Wars." After the closure, the Ensemble leadership team will form a new studio and has agreed to provide ongoing support for "Halo Wars" as well as work on other projects with Microsoft Game Studios.

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." 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.

This was a fiscally-rooted decision that keeps MGS on its growth path. While the decision to dissolve Ensemble was not an easy one, Microsoft is working to place as many Ensemble employees who do not move to the newly formed studio into open positions within Microsoft as possible.

As to our overall strategy at MGS, it remains the same. We are committed to growing MGS with world-class talent both internally and with our external partners around the globe. We have recently added some well-known developers to our team and will continue growing the team. We're particularly excited about the titles we have in the pipeline and continue to evaluate additional opportunities to bring incredible games to life with the industry's best. Our investment in games has never been greater than it is today.

It has been one of the most respected game developers in the last decade and its past titles have sold millions of copies. Yet a rumor posted on Shacknews today (citing unnamed sources) claims that Microsoft plans to shut down Dallas based Ensemble Studios following the completion of their upcoming Xbox 360 RTS game Halo Wars.

According to the article, everyone not associated with Halo Wars has lost their jobs as of today. The Halo Wars team will continue until the game is completed sometime in 2009. Ensemble was co-founded in 1995 by Bruce Shelley who prior to Ensemble worked with Sid Meier on the original Sid Meier's Civilization and Railroad Tycoon. Before Halo Wars, Ensemble was a PC only game developer, creating the highly regarded Age of Empires series of historical RTS games. In a recent blog post on the Ensemble web site Shelley stated that the combined sales of the Age of Empires games and its spin-of Age of Mythology have now reached 20 million copies.

Update: Big Download spoke with a Microsoft PR rep over the phone late this afternoon but the rep had no comment on the Ensemble Games shut down rumor.