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| {{Infobox/Developer
| | [[Image:Age-of-empires-3.jpg|left|thumb|200px|A screenshot of Age Of Empires III]]'''Ensemble Studios''' is a [[Microsoft]]-owned company that has developed several computer games, including the famous ''Age of Empires'' series. The company was founded in 1995 in Dallas by Tony Goodman, his brother, Rick Goodman, Bruce Shelley, and Brian Sullivan. After 2 years, it released its first game, ''Age of Empires''. In May 2001, Microsoft acquired the company. Currently, the company employs about 100 people, including Bruce Shelley, Graeme Devine and Sandy Petersen. |
| |name=Ensemble Studios
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| |image=[[File:Ensemble Studios Logo.png|250px]]
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| |founded= 1995
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| |dissolved= 2009
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| |founder= *Tony Goodman | |
| *Rick Goodman
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| *Brian Sullivan
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| |leader= | |
| |parent= [[Microsoft]] | |
| |subsidiaries= | |
| |headquarters= Dallas, Texas, USA {{C|Former}}
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| |locations=
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| |website= [http://www.ensemblestudios.com/ www.ensemblestudios.com]
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| |halogames= [[Halo Wars]]
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| |othergames=[[wikipedia:Age of Empires|''Age of Empires'' series]]
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| }}
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| '''Ensemble Studios''' was a game studio known for the [[wikipedia:Age of Empires|''Age of Empires'' series]] and the developers of ''[[Halo Wars]]'', the first [[real-time strategy]] game set in the [[Halo universe|''Halo'' universe]]. The studio was disbanded in [[2009]], following the release of ''Halo Wars''. A majority of studio's former employees moved to [[Robot Entertainment]]. | |
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| == History ==
| | Ensemble is notable for its playtesting procedures: everyone at the company is required to test the current product at least once a week. The company has a varied employee background, Its workers range from high school graduates to PhDs. |
| === Origin and acquisition by Microsoft ===
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| [[File:Age-of-empires-3.jpg|thumb|200px|A screenshot of Age Of Empires III]]
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| The studio founded in 1995 in Dallas by Tony Goodman, his brother, Rick Goodman, Bruce Shelley, and Brian Sullivan. The studio released its first game, ''Age of Empires'', after two years of operation. The game was well received by the gaming community at the time, establishing a venerable reputation for Ensemble as a leading real-time strategy developer.
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| In May 2001, the studio was acquired by Microsoft.<ref name="internal">[http://asia.gamespot.com/news/microsoft-to-acquire-ensemble-studios-2715282 '''Gamespot''': ''Microsoft to acquire Ensemble Studios'']</ref> Under Microsoft till [[2007 (real world)|2007]], Ensemble developed their last ''Age of Empires'' title and ''Age of Mythology'', a spin-off from the series.
| | This company is cooperating with [[Bungie]] to create one of the three new Halo game projects; [[Halo Wars]]. [[Frank O'Connor]] announced in one of his weekly updates that Ensemble is designing the entire game, with Bungie playing a supporting role to ensure that the story fits in properly with the [[Halo universe]]. |
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| === Developing ''Halo Wars'' and closure ===
| | {| class="wikitable" width=50% |
| In 2007, Ensemble spent 12–18 months prototyping their ''Age of Mythology'' engine to experiment with the concept of a real-time strategy mechanics on a console.<ref name="gamasutra">[http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=20835#.UGUyuVG-XlO '''Gamasutra''': ''Q&A: How Ensemble Gets Halo Fans To Appreciate Halo Wars'']</ref><ref name="worthplaying">[http://worthplaying.com/article/2009/2/22/interviews/59199/ '''Worthplaying''': ''"Halo Wars" (X360) Developer Interview Part 1'']</ref> The studio concluded the experimentation with the concept of a centralized user interface system and settled for micromanagement and base-building and restricted resource gathering and management to bases. These game mechanics were presented to Microsoft shortly after.{{Ref/Reuse|gamasutra}} Microsoft, being risk-averse at the time, pressured Ensemble to rebrand their formerly original game as a ''Halo'' title.<ref name="gameindustry">[http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2012-09-27-halo-wars-bungie-saw-it-as-whoring-out-franchise-says-ensemble-founder '''GameIndustry''': ''Halo Wars: Bungie saw it as "whoring out franchise" says Ensemble founder'']</ref> Microsoft doubted that a real-time strategy game on a console could achieve adequate sales otherwise. This decision by Microsoft created a breakdown in relationship between Ensemble Studios and Bungie Studios.{{Ref/Reuse|gameindustry}}{{Ref/Note|Ensemble Studios desired to use their novel game mechanics for an original title. This was denied by Microsoft, who suggested that the game would sell better as a ''Halo'' title. Bungie was discontent with Microsoft's decision of forcing the ''Halo'' intellectual property to be in a different genre. This led to their buy-out in 2007.}} Regardless, the studio cooperated with Bungie Studios to develop ''[[Halo Wars]]''.
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| On September 10, 2008, Ensemble Studios announced that it would be closing a short while after ''[[Halo Wars]]'' was released. Dave Pottinger, Lead Designer of Halo Wars, issued a response assuring that the quality of the game should not be affected. Post-release support for the game is being provided by [[Robot Entertainment]], where a majority of Ensemble's employees went after the close.
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| == List of games ==
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| ===Released===
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| {|width="50%" class="wikitable"
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| !Name | | !Name |
| !Release Date | | !Release Date |
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| |''[[Wikipedia:Age of Empires (video game)|Age of Empires]]'' | | |''[[Wikipedia:Age of Empires (video game)|Age of Empires]]'' |
| |1997 | | |1997 |
| |[[Real-time strategy]] | | |[[real-time strategy]] |
| |- | | |- |
| |''[[Wikipedia:Age of Empires: The Rise of Rome|Age of Empires: The Rise of Rome]]'' | | |''[[Wikipedia:Age of Empires: The Rise of Rome|Age of Empires: The Rise of Rome]]'' |
| |1998 | | |1998 |
| |Expansion pack | | |[[expansion pack]] |
| | |- |
| |- | | |- |
| |''[[Wikipedia:Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings|Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings]]'' | | |''[[Wikipedia:Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings|Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings]]'' |
| |1999 | | |1999 |
| |Real-time strategy | | |real-time strategy |
| |- | | |- |
| |''[[Wikipedia:Age of Empires II: The Conquerors|Age of Empires II: The Conquerors]]'' | | |''[[Wikipedia:Age of Empires II: The Conquerors|Age of Empires II: The Conquerors]]'' |
| |2000 | | |2000 |
| |Expansion pack | | |expansion pack |
| |- | | |- |
| |''[[Wikipedia:Age of Mythology|Age of Mythology]]'' | | |''[[Wikipedia:Age of Mythology|Age of Mythology]]'' |
| |2002 | | |2002 |
| |Real-time strategy | | |real-time strategy |
| |- | | |- |
| |''[[Wikipedia:Age of Mythology: The Titans|Age of Mythology: The Titans]]'' | | |''[[Wikipedia:Age of Mythology: The Titans|Age of Mythology: The Titans]]'' |
| |2003 | | |2003 |
| |Expansion pack | | |expansion pack |
| |- | | |- |
| |''[[Wikipedia:Age of Empires III|Age of Empires III]]'' | | |''[[Wikipedia:Age of Empires III|Age of Empires III]]'' |
| |2005 | | |2005 |
| |Real-time strategy | | |real-time strategy |
| |- | | |- |
| |''[[Wikipedia:Age of Empires III: The WarChiefs|Age of Empires III: The WarChiefs]]'' | | |''[[Wikipedia:Age of Empires III: The WarChiefs|Age of Empires III: The WarChiefs]]'' |
| |2006 | | |2006 |
| |Expansion pack | | |expansion pack |
| |- | | |- |
| |''[[Wikipedia:Age of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties|Age of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties]]'' | | |''[[Wikipedia:Age of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties|Age of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties]]''<ref>Co-developed with [[Wikipedia:Big Huge Games|Big Huge Games]].</ref> |
| |2007 | | |2007 |
| |Expansion pack | | |expansion pack |
| |- | | |- |
| |''[[Halo Wars]]'' | | |''[[Halo Wars]]'' |
| |2009 | | |in development |
| |Real-time strategy | | |real-time strategy |
| |} | | |} |
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| ===Unreleased=== | | == Awards == |
| {|width="50%" class="wikitable"
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| !Name
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| !Release Date
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| !Genre
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| |''[[Titan (canceled game)|Titan]]'' (codename){{Ref/Site|Id=LastTour|URL=https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/ensemble-studios-the-last-tour|Site=Game Developer|Page=Ensemble Studios: The Last Tour|D=21|M=9|Y=2021}}
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| |Cancelled
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| |MMORPG
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| |''[[Phoenix (Ensemble pitch)|Phoenix]]'' (codename)
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| |Cancelled; turned into ''Halo Wars''{{Ref/Reuse|LastTour}}
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| |Real-time strategy
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| |-
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| |''[[Halo Wars sequel (Ensemble)|Halo Wars sequel]]''
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| |DLC expansions and sequel ideas; pitched but never developed
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| |Real-time strategy
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| |-
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| |''Sorcerer; Nova''
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| |Cancelled{{Ref/Reuse|LastTour}}
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| |Dungeon crawler
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| |-
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| |Unnamed "pirate-themed take on ''Diablo''"
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| |Cancelled{{Ref/Reuse|LastTour}}
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| |Dungeon crawler
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| |-
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| |''Wrench''
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| |Cancelled{{Ref/Reuse|LastTour}}
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| |Unknown
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| |-
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| |''Bam''
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| |Cancelled{{Ref/Reuse|LastTour}}
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| |Action-adventure
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| |-
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| |''Agent''
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| |Cancelled{{Ref/Reuse|LastTour}}
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| |Unknown
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| |}
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| == Known employees ==
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| *[[Wikipedia:Graeme Devine|Graeme Devine]]
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| *[[Wikipedia:Dave Pottinger|Dave Pottinger]]
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| *[[Jerome K. Jones]]
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| *[[Lance Hoke]]
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| ==Notes==
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| {{Ref/Notes}}
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| == Sources ==
| | Ensemble Studios has received a number of awards through the years. Including many for game of the year. |
| {{Ref/Sources}}
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| == External links ==
| | * Game Spy - 2005 Game of the year - PC RTS |
| *[http://www.ensemblestudios.com/ Official website] | | * Game Spy - 2005 Best Graphics |
| [[Category:Companies]]
| | * Game Spy - 2005 Best Music – Honorable Mention |
| [[Category:Ensemble Studios| ]]
| | * Game Spy – Best of E3 2005 |
| | * Worth Playing – Editor Choice |
| | * PCGamers – Editor Choice |
| | * Game Critics Award – Best of E3 2005 |
| | * Game Zone – Outstanding Award |
| | * IGN.Com – Editor Choice Award |
| | * IGN – Best of E3 Award 2005 |
| | * Daily Game - Best of Show E3 2005 |
| | * GT – Gold Medal |
| | * GamePower Award |
| | * Strategy Gaming Online – Editors Choice |
| | * Gamer Voice – Best Wargame |
| | * GameSpot – Game of the year |
| | * Gamesmania – Award of Excellence |
| | * GamesDomain – Readers Award |
| | * Thresh’s FiringSquad – Editors Choice |
| | * Computer Gaming World – 5 Stars |
| | * Computer Gaming World – Editors Choice |
| | * WarGamer – Award for excellence |
| | * GamesWeekly – Top 15 of games |
| | * Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences – Best Strategy Game of the Year |
| | * GameCenter - 1997 Game of the Year |
