Ensemble Studios: The Last Tour

With Ensemble Studios shuttering in the coming days, Gamaustra managed to get a man inside for a quick tour of the company’s current projects. As it turns out, the Age of Empires developer was actually working on a fantasy RPG called Sorcerer, a sci-fi action RPG called Nova, and an unnamed pirate-themed action RPG.

Everyone knows the games that Ensemble has developed — but what most people don’t know about is the company’s undeveloped history of games that never saw the light of day.

Internally, the studio would prototype new game ideas. After that stage, the best results would be developed, then pitched to Microsoft.

They included: a fantasy-adventure RPG called Sorcerer; Nova, a “Diablo in space” game; a pirate-themed take on Diablo; a game called Wrench; a Ratchet & Clank-style platformer called Bam.

Most detailed was a game called Agent, with an art style and universe inspired by Pixar’s The Incredibles, and using gameplay elements from Tomb Raider. As the concept art shows, the game was instantly iconic and unique.

What a shame. Some great ideas there.