At the E3 conference, Microsoft announced the purchase of the developer Double Fine, but kept silent about the creation of a completely new studio. She will develop the Age of Empires franchise.
Age of Empires II
Information about the new Microsoft studio appeared on the official Xbox blog.
The name of the developer is still unknown. But the name of its head is mentioned: This is Shannon Loftis, an experienced Microsoft employee and former general manager of Xbox Entertainment Studios.
The corporate blog says that Microsoft is allocating more and more resources to the development of Age of Empires. Remakes of the second and third games of the franchise, as well as the title Age of Empires 4 from Relic studio are currently in development. Let’s add that the first game of the series of historical strategies was released back in 1997.
Together with the new unnamed studio and the purchased Double Fine, the number of autonomous Microsoft studios has increased to 15, Gamasutra writes. Recall that last year, such well-known developers as Obsidian and Ninja Theory got into the piggy bank of its divisions.