Closing Time: Ensemble's unannounced titles revealed

Cue the Semisonic, folks. After nearly 15 years, Dallas-based strategy developer Ensemble Studios has closed its doors for good. While its library of classic releases are well known to gamers worldwide, a host of concept images for unannounced games were spotted during a recent studio tour by Gamasutra. Among the titles left to collect dust with so many cardboard boxes are a fantasy-adventure RPG called Sorcerer, a platformer called Bam and a game described as "Diablo in space," called Nova.

Also revealed in the tour was a concept for a game named Phoenix, which would eventually become the upcoming RTS Halo Wars. Fun fact: Phoenix is a regularly used codename by Bungie Studios according to its official podcast, but Ensemble's use of the name was purely coincidental.

It isn't completely bad news for some of Ensemble's former staff, as many will help establish a new studio headed by Ensemble co-founder Tony Goodman. As big fans of the Age of Empires series, we here at Joystiq wish everyone leaving Ensemble Studios the very best of luck and continued success with future projects.

[Via BigDownload]