Last week, one of the more intriguing panels during GDC was one where laid-off developers talked about their former employers. Among the panelists was Ensemble Studios veteran Paul Bettner, who did not blame the Halo Wars developer's closure on Microsoft, rather claiming it was the fault of internal studio practices.
The statements of Bettner, however, have rubbed certain ex-Ensemble employees the wrong way, particularly Ian Fischer. In what can only be described as a seething open letter, Fischer refutes Bettner's claims point-by-point.
“Ensemble enjoyed a reputation as a place you didn’t leave,” wrote Fischer [thanks Shacknews]. “Our retention rates, including people who did not exit the company voluntarily, were in the vicinity of 90%. You will find few developers who can claim this at all and you will find none amongst the ones who actually 'wreck families' or ask people to 'sacrifice their youth.'”
“Every single game Ensemble Studios made, across more than a decade, paid for it’s development and made a profit,” he continued. “Microsoft had it’s reasons for closing the studio but to imply that it was because we cost too much is fiction. ES enjoyed a long relationship with Microsoft (as many ex-Studios people now at Robot or Bonfire still do), first as a partner and then as part of the corporation after 2001 – if, at any point, the leadership in Redmond wanted to reduce the cost of making games in Dallas, they could have done so with a phone call.”
“By apologizing for your inactions 'as a manager,' you suggest that you were a manager and therefore imply that you have some insight into the operation of the studio or into the justifications for our closing,” asserted Fischer. “You were never a member of the management team at Ensemble Studios. For that matter, neither you, nor anyone else, was 'Creative Director' at our studio. You were in no way involved in any of the conversations between Ensemble’s and Microsoft’s leadership regarding the closure of the studio. As I said, I respect your right to have and state your opinion. I would request that you not suggest or allow people to assume that you speak from a position that you did not hold.”
