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Ensemble Studios

Originally founded as an independent developer in 1995, Ensemble Studios has been a Microsoft-owned developer since 2001. Ensemble has developed many games including the famous Age of Empires game series. In addition to game development, Ensemble Studios also made the Genie Game Engine used in Age of Empires, Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings, and Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds.

Games

Ensemble Studios developed the Age of Empires game series of real-time strategy titles, comprising Age of Empires, Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings and Age of Empires III. They also released Age of Mythology, a spin-off from the original series. Expansion packs were also released for all their games including two for Age of Empires III.

They are currently developing Halo Wars.

Release Date	Name	Genre
1997	Age of Empires	real-time strategy
1998	Age of Empires: The Rise of Rome	expansion pack
1999	Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings	real-time strategy
2000	Age of Empires II: The Conquerors	expansion pack
2002	Age of Mythology	real-time strategy
2003	Age of Mythology: The Titans	expansion pack
2005	Age of Empires III	real-time strategy
2006	Age of Empires III: The WarChiefs	expansion pack
2007	Age of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties	expansion pack
2009 (in development)	Halo Wars	real-time strategy
Canceled	Halo	MMO

Recent news

Ensemble released Age of Empires III, on October 18, 2005, in North America. The game follows from the end of Age of Empires II, set in times such as the Industrial Age. The lead-up to the game's announcement was a series of teasers on Ensemble's website, culminating in a number of in-game screenshots.

The game has sold over 2 million copies, as of October 2007, and has become the fastest selling game of the series.

Afterwards, development began on the first expansion pack to Age of Empires III titled Age of Empires III: The War Chiefs. It included new content, new gameplay elements, a new single-player campaign, and three new native American civilizations. It was originally set for an October 2, 2006 release, but was released later, on October 17, 2006.

They have recently released a second expansion to Age of Empires III titled Age of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties. It introduced three Asian civilizations and six minor natives, as well as new gameplay features. They developed this project in conjunction with Big Huge Games, the creators of Rise of Nations.

Ensemble is also developing real-time strategy game based for the Xbox 360 on the successful Halo franchise, called Halo Wars.

Closing

On September 9th, 2008, it was announced that Ensemble will be closing after release of Halo Wars. According to multiple independent reports, all non-essential staff have been laid off and remaining staff have been given incentives to remain until the completion of the project. . Microsoft issued an internal statement on September 10th, 2008 which was then leaked to the public.