I creatori della milionaria serie Age of empires( 22 milioni di copie venudte , per un totale di non so quanti milioni di dollari), chiudono per volere di microsoft, che vuole attuare un percorso per sviluppare e far crescere ancora di + il settore MICrosoft games..
Anche le sorti di halo wars sono legate ad un filo: tutti i dipendenti della ensemle che non hanno preso parte al lavoro su halo wars, sono stati licenziati, mentre agli altri è stato offerto un incentivo per continuare il lavoro di rifinitura su halo wars..
LA MSG dice di essere molto entusiasta per i diversi propgetti che sono in cantiere....
Ma allora age of empires 4, il remake di age of empires, che moltissimi fan volevano, verrano cestinati?
Se questa è una mossa di microst per sviluppare solo giochi su console, è la volta buona che i giocatori pc assalteranno veramnete la sede...
Qui le giustificazioni sulla pirateria, non trovano spazio: solo age of empires 3, con le sue espansioni, ha vendute + di 6 milioni di copie a livello mondiale ( solo age of empires 1,15 sul suo americano, senza contare le eapansioni), molte di + di tanti titoli per console...
Spero solo che i progetti legati alla serie age of empires, una delle migliori in assoluto, non siano cancellati.
qui il cominicato:
September 9, 2008 - Earlier this afternoon, the website ShackNews released a rumor report about the unfortunate impending fate of Microsoft-owned developer Ensemble Studios. According to the original story, Microsoft was in the process of laying off all employees not directly working on Halo Wars, which has not been canceled and is still due in the first quarter of 2009. Once the game was complete and ready to ship, the entire studio would be closed.
This evening, Microsoft confirmed the report in a statement. Microsoft is indeed closing down the developer behind the hugely successful Age of Empires strategy series, explaining the decision as a financial consideration. According to Microsoft, many Ensemble employees -- called the "leadership team" in the statement -- will join Microsoft Game Studios. Other employees not headed to MGS will be assisted in finding jobs elsewhere in the company, if possible.
Here is the statement in its entirety:
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 Ensembles 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. Were 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.
Ensemble Studios was founded in 1995. Its first game was the original Age of Empires, released in 1997. Microsoft purchased Ensemble in 2001. The studio's first game after the acquisition was Age of Mythology. The most recent Age of Empires game, Age of Empires III, has sold over 1.15 million copies according to NPD research and tabulation.
mi dispiace molto per questa notizia...