Ensemble Wants An MMO, And A Break From Age o...

Ensemble Wants An MMO, And A Break From Age of Empires

Much to Microsoft's dispair, Ensemble Studios is seriously thinking about taking a break from its Age of Empires series, and is currently working on several projects that may not have anything to do with the famed strategy franchise (except for the Age of Empires III: The WarChiefs addon, of course). Even the Massively Multiplayer Online genre is now on Ensemble's mind, and in fact it has been on their minds for quite a few years now!

From what Patrick Hudson (Executive Producer) told Next-Gen.biz in a recent interview, it's no secret that they're working on an MMO, since they've already been advertising for people with this kind of experience on their official website. For the time being however, only a small group (headed by Lead Designer Ian Fischer) is working on their debut MMO - which may turn out to be any of several things, but *not* a fantasy game. That, at least, if it's ever to evolve beyond the current prototype phase... And that's a big *if*...

(N.B. Archive text, links removed)