Robot Entertainment

Robot Entertainment

Type	Private (LLC)
Industry	Video game industry
Predecessor(s)	Ensemble Studios
Founded	February 2009
Headquarters	Plano, Texas, United States
Key people	Tony Goodman, Patrick Hudson
Products	Age of Empires Online Orcs Must Die! Hero Academy
Employees	45
Website	www.robotentertainment.com

Robot Entertainment is a video game publishing company created by the founders of the defunct Ensemble Studios, after being shut down by Microsoft.^[1] Other members of the company founded Bonfire Studios. Robot Entertainment was responsible for maintaining and updating Halo Wars until February 28, 2010 when Microsoft Game Studios assumed control of the game servers and updates. Also, in January 2011, Microsoft Game Studios took over updates and servers for Age of Empires: III.

History

On 10 July 2010, the company announced that they are working on two games; the first of which will be published by Microsoft Game Studios, and will be an RTS game, similar to the Age of Empires series.^{[citation needed]}

On 17 August 2010, the company announced the new game, Age of Empires Online. The game will feature a new stylized, 'cartoon' look, but Robot promised that it would still offer gameplay depth for fans of the franchise and would not alienate fans of the series. On 24 February 2011 it was announced that Gas Powered Games would be taking over the development on Age of Empires Online. Robot Entertainment President Patrick Hudson stated that handing over the development was expected, saying, "The plan was always to move to [an] original IP as soon as we had the ability focus on our core business goal."^[2]

On 24 February 2011, the company announced the new game Orcs Must Die!. The game "challenges players to defend fortresses under siege. With a wide variety of traps and weapons to choose from, Orcs Must Die! dares players to find the best ways to hack, launch, flatten, gibletize, and incinerate an endless army of filthy orcs and their vile allies. Orcs Must Die! features a vibrant look, addictive gameplay, and a blatant disregard for the welfare of orcs." The game is going to be published by Robot Entertainment as well as being self-developed by them.^[3]

On 17 November 2011, the company announced the new game Hero Academy. The game will be "...a head-to-head tactics game for iOS devices. Blending classic tactics gaming with the quick action of modern casual titles." Hero Academy features multiplayer combat that "is asynchronous, so a player may battle friends across multiple simultaneous games, whenever they have a few moments of free time. Push notifications alert you to your turn – select your moves from a range of options, like advancing across the playing field, attacking, defending, or adding powerful items to the fray." It is the company's first game developed for mobile devices.^[4]

Games

See also

• Bonfire Studios

References

External links

• Official homepage
• Age of Empires III Community Website
• Age of Empires Online