Microsoft has confirmed that following the release of Halo Wars, Ensemble Studios will be shut down. The confirmation follows a day of rumors that Halo Wars was to be the studio's last game.

In a statement, the company also said that "After the closure, the Ensemble leadership team will form a new studio and has agreed to provide ongoing support for Halo Wars as well as work on other projects with Microsoft Game Studios."

Reasoning for the closure was cited as purely fiscal, and that taking this measure helps "keeps MGS on its growth path." According to the announcement, "Microsoft is working to place as many Ensemble employees who do not move to the newly formed studio into open positions within Microsoft as possible." The company also added that the decision does not affect Microsoft Game Studio's overall strategy.

We expect more details from Microsoft on the closure of Ensemble in the near future.

[UPDATE] - Below is the original story that ran regarding the rumor of Ensemble's closure.

Multiple reports across the net are corroborating that following the release of Halo Wars, Microsoft will shut down its wholly-owned RTS studio Ensemble.

A Microsoft rep we talked to declined to confirm or deny any of the reports relating to the closure of Ensemble, but the company did contact us to let us know to expect a talk with Microsoft Games Studio head Phil Spencer regarding the rumor—despite Spencer currently being on vacation.

Asked if the talk would be regarding the Ensemble rumor, he simply said "correct," but opted not to comment further.

Shacknews first reported on the story, citing “multiple independent reports.” According to these rumors, non-essential personnel not related to the Halo Wars project were laid off Tuesday, while those that are working on the game were offered incentives to stay until the project’s completion.

Founded in 1995, Ensemble Studios is most well known for the Age of Empires series. The studio has developed every Age of Empires game and expansion pack.