While we don’t know all of the details yet, Microsoft’s closing of Ensemble Studios (which has been responsible for the Age of Empires series as well as the about-to-be-released Halo Wars) will be forming two new studios out of the ashes of Ensemble.

Jason Pace, who was the lead producer for Halo Wars, had already hinted that one of these two studios would be supporting the Halo Wars title going forward. What kind of support the studio will provide for Halo Wars is not exactly clear, but we suspect that we will hear more specifics once the title is released.

As for the second studio, not much is really known about it other than they have some ideas and it is likely that many Ensemble employees will also be a part of this effort, as well. Bruce Shelley, who was one of the founders of Ensemble, has been quoted as saying that he expects both studios to do well and the entire Ensemble team has a lot to be proud of.

While nothing specific was announced, some sources believe that a new Age of Empires product could perhaps be part of the agenda for one of these two new studios. It has been suggested that such an updated Age of Empires would be targeted toward the Xbox 360 and the PC. Of course, we will have to wait and see what is next, but we suspect that it could be something unexpected.