Microsoft to open new dev studio in Ensemble's wake

10:38 PM on 09.10.2008   |   Joseph Leray

19 comments

Yesterday, Microsoft confirmed that Ensemble Studios will be closing its doors after Halo Wars is released in 2009. According to a statement made to Gamespot, the decision to close Ensemble was "a fiscally rooted [one] that keeps MGS on its growth path" and doesn't "reflect at all on Ensemble's talent or the quality of Halo Wars."

Furthermore, Microsoft will be opening a new development studio that will support Halo Wars post-launch and house former Ensemble leaders. While Microsoft assures us that it is "working to place as many Ensemble employees who do not move to the newly formed studio into open positions within Microsoft as possible," that will offer little consolation to those who are left out in the cold. I don't see much sense in closing one studio in order to open another, but I'm just a lowly blogger.

Unfortunately, it seems that whatever financial issues are plaguing smaller Microsoft-owned studios won't be solved by the creation of a new dev house. Jason Kingsley, CEO of Rebellion, explained to Gamesindustry.biz that "internal teams are at times seen as a cheaper alternative than using an external resource, but the truth is the exact opposite as far as I'm concerned, and big companies shedding internal teams might be an indication that the penny has dropped in their accounts departments."

Gareth Edmonson, head of Ubisoft Reflections, may have an explanation: he says that being owned by a larger publisher often increases demands on developers, rather than provide some kind of perceived security. Increased demand often leads to an increased allotment of resources, and "publishers are likely to bet bigger on their internal studio products," he explained to Gamesindustry.biz.

"I suppose we have to expect consolidation in terms of fewer, but bigger companies in our industry," he continues. "It's been going on for a while and I think it's part of the growing pains of an industry coming to maturity." In a perfect world, industry "maturity" would mean that games like Psychonauts, Okami, and Beyond Good and Evil sold millions of copies each; however, in the real world, it means competition, consolidation, and assimilation.  It seems like every day, a new development house folds, and even larger studios aren't immune to the economic crunch the industry is feeling, even in the face of unprecedented sales.

Edmonson may see this process as a sign of maturity, but I see it as a sign that, somewhere along the line, the industry's collective business model got boned. Where is all the money we spend going?

Destructoid would like to offer the best of luck to Ensemble Studios employees.

[Via Kotaku and Gamesindustry.biz]