Ensemble Studios
≈ 3 min read
Names in other languages
No names in other languages are held for this entry yet.
Article bodies are English and are not machine-translated. A name in another language is not a translation of the article.
Ensemble Studios was an American video game developer. Ensemble developed many real-time strategy games, including the Age of Empires game series, Age of Mythology, and Halo Wars. It was acquired by Microsoft in 2001 and was shut down in 2009. In addition to game development, Ensemble Studios also developed the Genie Game Engine used in Age of Empires, Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings, and Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds. The studio sold 20 million games and was worth an estimated $500 million.
Ensemble Studios was an American video game developer. Ensemble developed many real-time strategy games, including the Age of Empires game series, Age of Mythology, and Halo Wars. It was acquired by Microsoft in 2001 and was shut down in 2009. In addition to game development, Ensemble Studios also developed the Genie Game Engine used in Age of Empires, Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings, and Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds. The studio sold 20 million games and was worth an estimated $500 million.
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 its games including two for Age of Empires III. Its last release was the real-time strategy game called Halo Wars for Xbox 360.
Legacy
Many development companies have originated from Ensemble Studios. In 1998, Rick Goodman left the company and started a new independent studio, Stainless Steel Studios. In 2000, Brian Sullivan left Ensemble Studios and started a new independent studio, Iron Lore Entertainment, to develop the action role-playing game Titan Quest. At the time of the studio's closure, several former employees were in the process of starting their own companies. Newtoy, Inc., was formed in 20081 by brothers David and Paul Bettner, developers from Ensemble. The McKinney, Texas-based company released Chess With Friends for the iPhone in November 2008 and the wildly popular Words With Friends in August 2009. In 2011, Zynga acquired Newtoy for $53 million and renamed the company Zynga With Friends, a moniker off of Newtoy's successful 'with friends' series. The brothers left the company in 2012. Paul started a company in 2013 to develop for the Android-based Ouya gaming system. In February 2009, Goodman and a number of Ensemble veterans started a new independent studio, Robot Entertainment. It developed the free-to-play Age of Empires Online for Microsoft. At the same time, producer David Rippy started Bonfire Studios, composed entirely of former Ensemble staff members. Bonfire was acquired by Zynga in 2010 and renamed Zynga Dallas. In March 2009, ex-staffer Dusty Monk formed Windstorm Studios, a one-man company. It closed on March 21, 2012, and Monk joined Robot Entertainment. In June 2013, David Rippy, Scott Winsett, and Bill Jackson formed Boss Fight Entertainment. The company developed mobile games and was located in McKinney, Texas. It was acquired by Netflix Inc. in 2022. After developing Netflix Stories and Squid Game: Unleashed, the studio was shut down in 2025.
References
External links
Ensemble Studios site 'Ask Sandy' threads from Age of Kings Heaven Ensemble Studios profile on MobyGames Remember Ensemble Studios - archived Ensemble material and news
Text derived from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1378471165 under CC BY-SA 4.0; modifications have been made.