Tag Archives: bruce shelley

AIAS has announced plans for a keynote panel for DICE next month, which will include the most recent four entrants into its Hall of Fame.

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Those wondering what Ensemble co-founder Bruce Shelley’s been up to since Microsoft closed the studio can wonder no more – he’s working as a consultant with Ubisoft on The Settlers 7: Paths to a Kingdom.

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Ensemble Studios co-founder Bruce Shelley is very happy for the ex-Ensemble vets who have moved on to form Robot Entertainment and Bonfire Studios.

Speaking at DICE, Shelley said the studio’s demise mostly boiled down to lack of quality, lack of quality hires and genre diversification as projects not related to RTS were canceled.

Shelley also said that the worst thing Ensemble did was to close, as there were ways to have moved on specifically downsizing and reaffirming its relationship with Microsoft.

“It’s a sad day, but this is business,” Shelley said. “Maybe we didn’t do some things very well. We were shocked, but we’ve gone through the stages of grief and now we’re looking for a new direction.”

More through here.

Ensemble head Bruce Shelley’s made his final blog update before the studio closes, confirming that “at least” two new studios are to be born from the ashes.

“There are at least two new studios being formed by ES employees and I expect both to do very well,” he said.

“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.”

Microsoft decided to close the studio following the completion of Halo Wars.

Shelley added a sentimental note to the closure: the development legend was employee number four at Ensemble in 1995.

“We are working our way through the final week with mixed emotions,” he said.

“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.”

Halo Wars releases on February 27.

Ensemble boss Bruce Shelley has said the studio was “shocked” at the Microsoft decision to wind the operation down after Halo Wars, saying there was an internal assumption the outfit was “immune” to closure.

“Everyone at our studio was shocked, and I think remains very disappointed that this is going to happen,” said Shelley, writing on his blog.

“I believe we thought we were immune to shut-down talk because our published games have done so well and have been so profitable. Plus we felt we had built a really stable (low-turnover), talented, hard-working, and creative team, which is not easy to do.

“We thought we were among the best studios in the world, and that may be true, but we don’t fit in the future plans of MGS as an internal studio so we’re out.”