The Incredible Story of Halo Wars Development

[@DovahFett]

One thing I'd mention when discussing Halo Wars' legacy is its soundtrack. It's brilliant, and perfectly captures the tone of the franchise and the game its specific to. Stephen Rippy did a fantastic job.

[@williambauer4332]

Criminally underrated channel

[@SaveDataTeam]

Aw thank you! 😊 Growing on KZbin is hard, feel free to share with anyone you think would enjoy!

[@Coreymcorey2]

Great video. One thing I saw in another video about this game (Can’t find the source) is about the first minute and thirty-ish seconds of the cinematics. While he’s describing the war on Harvest he’s also talking about the development of the game. “5 Long years”, “setback after setback,” it’s a very interesting aspect of the game in my opinion.

[@SaveDataTeam]

Yeah Jason Schrier mentioned it in his book too. I almost put it here, and played the cutscene in full, but I felt like it was copying his book a little too much. I would be surprised if the devs didn’t realize it while writing the intro 😅

[@CreepyThings999]

Man I remember getting an Xbox each with my cousin around Christmas 2009 and getting halo 3 and Halo wars with them. I loved both of them. This game was so good and its great to know its history. Great video man

[@SaveDataTeam]

Thank you very much! It’s a pretty crazy story, glad more people are finding it. Feel free to share this one! 😅

[@RealllyGoodGaming]

Did you know that 343i removed the Ensemble Studios splash screen when HW DE boots up? And they removed Ensemble Studio’s farewell letter at the end. Really bothered me that they did that - disrespects all the hard work Ensemble Studios did and misleads newcomers that HW is a game made by 343i. Really good video btw I’ll share

[@SaveDataTeam]

Thank you very much! I’m glad you enjoyed! Yeah, ensemble’s legacy kind of got thrown out the window after they were scattered to the winds. It’s a real shame because they have so many fans across the world, myself included.

[@RealllyGoodGaming]

Around The Monitor it is a pretty tragic story, can’t believe they were cooking the books though. Seems like if they had all committed to HW they might have had more freedom to work on other projects

[@SaveDataTeam]

Yeah, honestly it’s hard to say who was ultimately in the wrong (both sides for sure), but it’s still depressing either way.

[@staryoshi06]

I've watched people play HW DE and the farewell letter is still there.

[@SaveDataTeam]

Oh really? 😬 That feels pretty scummy to me.

[@TheMizukey13]

Ensemble: Screw Halo Wars, half of us are making this MMO that our bosses don't want. Microsoft Bosses: .....We're closing your studio. Ensemble: *Shocked Pikachu face*

[@SaveDataTeam]

Hahahaha! This is pretty much the truth 😂

[@odynnxd]

I wasn't aware of the depth behind Halo Wars, thanks for making this video :)

[@SaveDataTeam]

Yeah, it’s an absolutely amazing story and I am happy to share it with more people!

[@TheonlyUnitedempire]

Wow let's never forget these guys they sacrificed their little company to bring us Halo Wars let's never forget them it's our duty as Halo Wars fans 😭😭😭😭😭😭🤧

[@thestormwar]

Thank you for this. I'm happy to stumble upon it and the story of Ensemble because as a Halo fan but not an RTS fan i had only heard rumblings about what happened with this game and studio. Very nice work. My only issue was the thumbnail was a little generic? A lot of channels just use the cover art for achievements and more. Maybe put something like "The Untold Story" on it? This definitely deserves more views. Much love 🧡

[@jimmyjamesraynor6180]

A real pity that the studio was closed. But MS is now going on an acquisition spree

[@SaveDataTeam]

It’s been over a decade since this, but yeah, their Bethesda acquisition was a huge deal. I think they’ll take a break for a while and focus on promoting game pass, which is the best deal in gaming tbh.

[@CasiRiegle]

Great story, and told excellently. Great job!

[@SaveDataTeam]

Thank you very much!

[@BrokenCircle1]

Fantastic video. Deserves far more views. Extremely well put together. I love Halo Wars though I wish we could see what the original idea for it would have become (the demo).

[@CHILLSCISSORS]

Fantastic job on the video! It's my first time to the channel I definitely subscribed keep killing it

[@SaveDataTeam]

Thank you very much! 😊 I should have a new video out this weekend!

[@RebtoriasTheGreat]

I am glad halo wars made it through

[@SaveDataTeam]

Same! It was sort of a diamond in the rough, and the story behind it makes me appreciate it even more!

[@DavidCulverslicingblade]

Its a well put together video, I enjoyed it! Good job!

[@SaveDataTeam]

Thank you very much! Glad you enjoyed!

[@zemeowingwolf7081]

This is an incredible video, absolutely brilliant writing and production.

[@SaveDataTeam]

Thank you so much! I'm glad this video is finally picking up some steam! If you don't mind me asking, where did you find it from? My KZbin analytics haven't updated to tell me what the source is lol

[@zemeowingwolf7081]

@@SaveDataTeam it got linked in a reddit post on r/pcgaming about studios being purchased. Thread talked about ensemble and this vid was linked.

[@Unordinal]

@@SaveDataTeam I'd like to note that I found this video on VenomLion's channel - he's a game dev and reacts to a lot of videos similar to this and talks about his own experiences!

[@SaveDataTeam]

Yeah, I saw that his video was bringing people my way, which I appreciate!

[@TheonlyUnitedempire]

Yeah I'm going to watch the full video now you had me it was almost not made I'm glad they made it because this is my most favorite game of all time

[@insanelyinshape]

I have two main thoughts. (1)Ensemble's closure was both upsetting as a fan of Ensemble RTS's and a loss to the genre, as well as (2) indicative of a systemic and problematic attitude within the company itself. Walking a fine line between doing what you're good at and trying something new, while making sure you get paid for doing both is a difficult balance for teams who are formally independent (ironically, you can look at Bungie after their split from Microsoft for a similar example). I do love this style of video, but it does make me feel as though Ensemble dug their own grave. Their attitude toward the people who cut their checks, in conjunction with their pride, makes it very hard for me to feel sympathetic toward them. While I still love their games, I'm not sure I'll look back on the studio with as much fondness. But I can live with that.

[@SaveDataTeam]

It’s tough because I love them too, but you can’t put the blame entirely on Microsoft for shutting them down. It’s definitely not a black and white story.

[@insanelyinshape]

@@SaveDataTeam I don't blame Microsoft at all. Ensemble was essentially in open rebellion. At the least, they were massively insubordinate. Were I in charge of Microsoft, I would have had no qualms with removing the problem and if the entire studio is a problem then take the talent you can and get out.

[@Blackandfan]

glad to see this video getting more views

[@SaveDataTeam]

Thanks! It’s been cool to this this get some notice half a year after I made it! 😅

[@rosienroller]

Found this from reddit, very good video!

[@SaveDataTeam]

Glad you found us and happier you liked it! 😀

[@VenomLion]

PLEASE my bois, go ahead and give a like to Around the Monitor's video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/n5jEc2Vnbq6WbsU If you're watching my vid also make sure to at least watch his, so that his channel gets the views as well as the watch time!

[@Prophet1]

This channel is so underrated its heresy

[@SaveDataTeam]

Send in the Arbiter to stop this heresy

[@SaveDataTeam]

What do you think about the story behind Halo Wars? Let me know below! Check us out on all these platforms: Discord: discord.gg/kt9AJtp Patreon: Patreon.com/savedatateam Twitch: Twitch.tv/savedatateam Instagram: Instagram.com/savedatateam Twitter: Twitter.com/savedatateam Facebook: Facebook.com/savedatateam

[@MumboMod]

Another top notch video

[@frankcate]

This needs an update. Its sad that the game caused the death of this studio :(

[@TheonlyUnitedempire]

I made a comment just a minute ago I said some things wrong I'm going to restart it

[@BartenderDownUnder]

Good video mate 👍 Favorite game of all time. Played it since it launched and still play it regularly to this day. Fuck yes Ensemble. Fuck yes

[@SaveDataTeam]

Thank you! 😊 it’s truly incredible considering how many issues the team and the studio behind the game had that it came out at all, let alone an actually good game! RIP Ensemble.

[@BartenderDownUnder]

@@SaveDataTeamjust letting you know I’ve come back to rewatch this video and yes I STILL play this game occasionally and Just won/finished a 3v3 on automatic 113 :) thanks for the video (again)

[@SaveDataTeam]

@rhysgross2955 I really appreciate it! 😁 and congrats!

[@zo3061]

This video would be made better without your face interjected all over it.

[@SaveDataTeam]

Hey thanks dog lol

[@zo3061]

This is legit, untrolling feedback btw. Pet peeve of mine are when people making video essays put their face over them.

[@SaveDataTeam]

Idk man, that’s cool I guess, but it hasn’t stopped tons people way more popular than me from doing it, and tbh your first comment was worded pretty harshly 🤷‍♂️

[@BwayMart]

D Wood if you’re looking for a KZbin video without a person in it maybe you should switch to podcasts