Microsoft’s next foray into the world of free-to-play online gaming, Age of Empires Online, has received an official release date, but don’t be fooled - this is no Facebook experiment.

Imbued with the rich heritage of the Age of Empires series of strategy games, and meticulously crafted by both Robot Entertainment (formed by Ensemble Studios members) and Gas Powered Games (home of strategy master Chris Taylor), Age of Empires Online is a fully-featured strategy and civilisation building game.

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Former members of the ill-fated Ensemble Studios, including co-founder Tony Goodman, have banded together to form a new development studio under the moniker Robot Entertainment.

After Ensemble was recently closed down, not before finishing up work on the hotly anticipated Halo real-time strategy game, Halo Wars, a number of employees decided to up and form studios of their own in the wake of the closure. Robot Entertainment, it appears, is one of those studios.

Hopefully the studio will continue on the path set by Ensemble and create some block-rocking RTS games… or maybe something in another genre, if they so wish.

Source: Gamasutra