Play: Remains of Ensemble Studios now part of Zynga
Worlds in Motion: Zynga Buys Bonfire, Studio Of Ensemble Veterans
Posted by Eric Caoili on October 5, 2010 2:00 PM
Social game developer Zynga announced its acquisition of Dallas-based Bonfire Studios, one of several firms established by refugees of Microsoft's now-defunct Ensemble Studios.
Founded last year shortly after the release of Halo Wars and the closure of Ensemble Studios, Bonfire has focused on projects that seem to have little resemblance to the Age of Empires PC series its staff worked on before, instead releasing a casual strategy game We Farm for iOS devices.
With this purchase, Bonfire will now operate as Zynga Dallas and will work to create original IPs for its new parent company. The developers founders will remain at the studio: CEO/president David Rippy will now serve as general manager, Bill Jackson as creative director, and Scott Winsett as senior art director.
I found this news disquieting for several reasons having to do with my relationship to both Age of Empires and Zynga.
I was a dedicated Age of Empires III player for two years, playing six nights a week on Ensemble Studios Online from 2007 to 2009. I only took Saturday nights off to post Overnight News Digest on Daily Kos. I eventually became good enough to rise to the levels of master sergeant in Deathmatch, Sergeant in Treaty, and Corporal in the regular rush game. That last one was a real challenge for me, as there was lots of competition because that was the most popular variant of the game and because being a middle-aged man, I didn't have the speedy reflexes of the people young enough to be my sons (and some daughters) playing against me. I had to really plan and execute to keep up.
While I was quite proud of my skill, I eventually quit playing regularly. I realized that I would really have to work a lot harder and spend even more time to get to sergeant, and I really didn't want to grind like that. Also, I started playing Age of Empires III to play with my wife, who was a much higher ranking player than I was in Treaty. About the time I got good, she started playing Final Fantasy XI. I decided that if I was going to play a game a lot, I would play it with her. If I wasn't going to play, I would rather spend my time doing something more useful than playing a game, such as writing for Examiner.com or being the editor-in-chief of Overnight News Digest on Daily Kos.
So reading the above news upset me. First, I had heard rumors that Ensemble Studios would be disbanded, but I really didn't believe them, so having the news confirmed was like finding out someone I knew had died a year earlier. Second, Robot Entertainment will likely be a very different beast than Ensemble Studios. Finally, that the remains ended as part of Zynga was just galling.
As the World burns, Farmville thrives.
Meta: Next post will be my 1000th on this LJ.