Ensemble Studios’ cancelled project was Halo MMO, screenshot

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Update: A ton of concept images from the game have been posted on Flickr by “goneisgone”. See them here.

Gama’s reporting that Ensemble’s cancelled game was a Halo MMO. From the piece:

Following the recent announcement that Microsoft-owned Age Of Empires creator Ensemble Studios would close after the completion of Halo Wars, Gamasutra has discovered that a now-canceled Halo MMO was in development at the studio, unearthing prototype UI and level screenshots of the Ensemble-developed project.

The prototype art, which was at one point made available on an Ensemble-linked online artist portfolio website, further confirms previous rumors that the studio was working on an MMO based on the Bungie-created sci-fi franchise.

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With Ensemble now disbanded, Gamasutra reveals one of its big projects that never saw the light of day: a Halo MMO. According to various reports, it appears that the game was in development for some time during 2006 and 2007 before being canceled. Seen above, a shot of the UI and an action pose of a Spartan duel-wielding. The design, from what little we can see of it, borrows a lot from World of Warcraft's simplicity and (judging by the dual-wield screenshot) hokeyness.

We understand there are reasons for cancellations, but this seems like a money printer on par with Pokémon and Blizzard's aforementioned MMO, regardless of quality. As Microsoft's Phil Spencer recently mentioned to GamesIndustry.biz, there are "more than two or three teams" working on Halo projects at the moment, so the MMO concept might not be entirely dead.