Ensemble bids fans a fond farewell

Ensemble Studios boss Bruce Shelley has written a fond farewell to fans in what will probably be his last blog post for the company.

"We are working our way through the final week with mixed emotions," writes Shelley. "We have a lot to be proud of and new opportunities are beckoning, but it is also sad to see this particular great adventure coming to an end.

"Boxes are piled in the hallways for trash; people are giving away games and other stuff they don't want anymore; computers are being wiped; and our corporate IDs are being turned in. Although we will be keeping in touch through some alumni initiatives, many of us may not cross paths again," he continues.

"There are at least two new studios being formed by ES employees and I expect both to do very well," he adds. "There were a lot of outstanding game developers here and it will be interesting to see how and what they do, both individually and as new groups, in the years ahead."

One of those studios will offer future support for Ensemble titles, including the soon-to-be-released Halo Wars. Jason Pace from Microsoft Game Studios told Eurogamer the game has series potential, and is far from a 'one-off' in the eyes of the platform holder.

There's no word on what the other studio to rise from Ensemble's ashes will be, but Pace said MGS is keen to keep working with the developer. On Age of Empires 4? Pace couldn't comment.

Halo Wars will be out exclusively for Xbox 360 on 27th February. A demo will be released on Xbox Live Marketplace on 5th February - this Thursday.