Shelley on Ensemble closure: "Everyone at our studio was shocked"

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."