In a surprising revelation Tony Goodman from Ensemble Studios has revealed that the only decent strategy game on the Xbox 360 was actually disliked by the guys who owned the IP who saw it as Microsoft whoring out their brand.
Halo Wars if you haven’t played it is a fantastic console strategy game that managed to nearly perfect the genre on consoles and has yet to be replicated by anyone else. At the time Bungie said they were very proud of the way Ensemble were showcasing their IP and the dedication to the franchise.
However now it has come to light the Ensemble themselves didn’t really want to make a Halo inspired game and it was Microsoft who insisted that their strategy game be retro fitted with the Halo theme.
This not only put them back by a year but also caused a lot of tension between Ensemble Studio’s and Bungie who Goodman claims saw this as
“’the whoring out of our franchise”
I think we all knew at the time that Microsoft had been the driving force behind this but it’s a little disappointing to hear Bungie’s reaction as the game itself was excellent.
Last Updated: September 27, 2012
