Yesterday, Microsoft announced Halo Wars, a brand new addition to the ever expanding Halo universe that, unlike its predecessors, deals with real time strategy instead of first person shooter action. While Bungie is still in charge of Halo 3, the Xbox 360 manufacturer singled out Ensemble Studios as Halo Wars developer, known for its many excellent strategy series including Age of Empires. A short cinematic trailer was also showcased at the X06 Barcelona convention.

Looking back on the franchise history, Halo was initially a strategy game designed for the Mac, only to be transformed into the FPS masterpiece we all came to love, thus the return to the origins is not entirely out of place. While details were not yet known, this much could have been deducted when Microsoft turned off a user made real time strategy mode that took place in Bungie's Halo universe. Suddenly, the decision to shut down a rather pretentious fan project that has been around for several years makes a bit more sense. Just like the previous installments, Halo Wars will be an Xbox 360 exclusive. There are no plans for a PC version as of yet.

It's a major step for Microsoft to trust Halo Wars to a company other than the franchise creator themselves. While Bungie has been most protective of their Halo intellectual rights, they now give up creative control to Ensemble Studios. Besides developing the in-house Halo 3 juggernaut, they still act as an overseer over the Halo Wars RTS incarnation and for the Peter Jackson and Wingnut Interactive essential Halo movie.