Romance
New member
Microsoft's Ensemble Studios was working on a prototype massively multiplayer online game set in the Halo universe as recently as 2007 before the project was cancelled internally, according to a report on videogame business Web site Gamasutra.
Microsoft announced earlier this month that it will close Ensemble, developer of the popular Age of Empires real-time strategy game franchise and the upcoming console RTS Halo Wars. Although rumors have percolated since 2006 that Microsoft was working on an MMO based on Bungie's space marine series, Gamasutra has uncovered prototype screenshots of the canceled project, which it says were at one time linked to from Ensemble's Web site.
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Anyone want to party up to raid a Grunt den?
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Reported screenshots of the prototype Halo MMO show a World of Warcraft-like character pane, inventory system, mini-map and third-person avatar typical in PC MMOs.
Although Gamasutra's article states that the Halo MMO was cancelled at Ensemble, that doesn't mean the project was shelved entirely by Microsoft. Some of the Ensemble team will likely move to other Microsoft Game Studios departments, and the idea could resurface in another form.
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Master Chief's older brother Randy.
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This isn't the first time Microsoft has canceled a high-profile MMO idea. In February, the company announced that it had pulled the plug on the Marvel MMO under development by Cryptic Studios. At the time, Microsoft Game Studios Corporate Vice President Shane Kim had this to say on the subject of MMOs:
"When we first entered into the development and agreement of the development of 'Marvel Universe Online,' we thought we would create another subscription-based MMO. And if you really look at the data there's basically one that's successful and everything else wouldn't meet our level or definition of commercial success. And then you have to look [and say]: 'Can we change the business model for that? Is that really viable given how far we are in development? And so forth. Does Marvel want to do that?' There's a whole bunch of factors."
Credits: IGN.com
Microsoft announced earlier this month that it will close Ensemble, developer of the popular Age of Empires real-time strategy game franchise and the upcoming console RTS Halo Wars. Although rumors have percolated since 2006 that Microsoft was working on an MMO based on Bungie's space marine series, Gamasutra has uncovered prototype screenshots of the canceled project, which it says were at one time linked to from Ensemble's Web site.
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Reported screenshots of the prototype Halo MMO show a World of Warcraft-like character pane, inventory system, mini-map and third-person avatar typical in PC MMOs.
Although Gamasutra's article states that the Halo MMO was cancelled at Ensemble, that doesn't mean the project was shelved entirely by Microsoft. Some of the Ensemble team will likely move to other Microsoft Game Studios departments, and the idea could resurface in another form.
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This isn't the first time Microsoft has canceled a high-profile MMO idea. In February, the company announced that it had pulled the plug on the Marvel MMO under development by Cryptic Studios. At the time, Microsoft Game Studios Corporate Vice President Shane Kim had this to say on the subject of MMOs:
"When we first entered into the development and agreement of the development of 'Marvel Universe Online,' we thought we would create another subscription-based MMO. And if you really look at the data there's basically one that's successful and everything else wouldn't meet our level or definition of commercial success. And then you have to look [and say]: 'Can we change the business model for that? Is that really viable given how far we are in development? And so forth. Does Marvel want to do that?' There's a whole bunch of factors."
Credits: IGN.com
