| mysticD said: I can see their reasoning (although shortsight) as PC market is shrinking (last Age of Empire did just so-so) and RTS genre is not what it once was. Still, this is the studio with good track records and produce many hit. If Halo Wars turn out to be console RTS, MS would loose out on turning out sequel and other RTS. |
The PC market is healthier than ever, but Microsoft just wants to concentrate on Xbox. To be honest, I think it's idiotic that they had to close Ensemble so they could shift support for other devs since MS has $ billions laying around, but I guess you gotta have to please the share-holders.
Age of Empires 3 sold over 2 millions copies and had a couple of successful expansions... definitely not "so-so". Infact, I'd argue that RTS games are more popular than ever, especially if you consider the awesome lineup coming in 2009 (year of the RTS?):
Starcraft 2
Empire: Total War
Demigod
Dawn of War 2
Anno 1404
Majesty 2
Society
Company of Heroes Stand-alone expansion (rumored)
Halo Wars (Xbox 360)
Stormrise (PC/X360/PS3)
