Ex-Ensembles Robot turns to Trinigy

Robot Entertainment, one of the four splinter studios established from the infamous Microsoft/Ensemble breakdown, has announced it is using Trinigy’s Vision Engine for “new IP”.

Microsoft confirmed last year that it was closing Ensemble for “fiscal” reasons, ultimately resulting in the establishment of four new indie dev studios (Robot, Bonfire, Windstorm, Newtoy), each assembled by scattered Ensemble staff.

Now with a workforce of 45 ex-Ensembles, Robot Entertainment is turning to Trinigy’s Vision Engine for its new project.

Germany-headquartered Trinigy has licensed Robot Entertainment the Vision Engine to develop “a multi-platform game for its new IP”, though no specifics were given.

Robot Entertainment has in recent times worked with Ensemble’s own Age Engine, used in games such as Age of Mythology and heavily modified for games such as Age of Empires. Ensemble managed to use the Age engine in some capacity for developing Halo Wars.

Robot’s turn to the Vision Engine therefore marks a significant shift of pace for the developer.

“The Vision Engine has clearly been designed with a focus on a powerful set of engine features that do not compromise full developer flexibility,” said Robot’s lead programmer Vijay Thakkar.

“Throughout our evaluation of the industry’s premium
engines, the Vision engine consistently stood out in terms of performance and how quickly our developers could see their ideas running in game,” he added.