The Halo series has made its name on the first-person shooter genre, but Microsoft has branched out occasionally with projects like Halo Wars and the canceled Halo MMO. The latter was revealed as canceled before it was even announced, but why?

"There was obviously a lot of turmoil within Microsoft at that time," Patrick Hudson, formerly of Ensemble Studios, claims.

Read more: Bungie departure made Halo future uncertain »

It's the developer behind Age of Empires, one of the most successful videogame franchises of all time. It's a financial success, with its flagship franchise recording sales of over 20 million copies.

The company's latest title, Halo Wars, is a console RTS based on the hugely popular shooter series. By all accounts, this was a studio poised to conquer new territory with its dependable design and a popular property. Read more »

The almost-closed Ensemble Studios is at work on a Halo-themed strategy game, but at one point there was also an MMO set in the Halo universe in the works.

The game was not cancelled recently, as the game was a prototype worked on at the studio from 2006 to 2007 according to the story-breakers at Gamasutra. Ensemble was known to be working on console games and MMOs in 2006 but no details were announced at the time. Read more »