OK, this very definitely is about a Gamescom announcement, but the choice of historical figures is quite intriguing. Guevara and Robespierre are men of considerable controversy; Lincoln, for his time (it was a civil war, after all) was, too, but definitely is remembered in a much better light than the other two. I mean, the guy's on money. End of argument.

Honest Abe's quote is about revolution, reinforcing that theme. Any clues what we're dealing with, other than yet another homepage countdown?

Lionhead Studios [site]

Visitors landing on Lionhead Studio's website are now greeted by the visage of Maximilien Robespierre, a key figure in the French Revolution. Gamers will also note that the number six that was subtly displayed next to Che's head has been replaced with a rather blatant number five today.

Peter Molyneux, no stranger to hype, seems to be preparing for some news, perhaps big news at next week's GamesCom. Five days from now Molyneux, Creative Director of Microsoft Game Studiosm, will, according to Microsoft, make a "special announcement."

Will it be for a revolutionary-themed game, or a game seen by Molyneux as revolutionary? Which ever it is, we'll be there live to break the news.

Alan Wake fansite BrightFalls claims to have received a statement from the developers, which reads:

Thank you for your continued interest in Alan Wake. It is accurate that we are currently working exclusively on the Xbox360 version of Alan Wake. PC plans are currently open, and therefore it's safe to say that at least a simultaneous launch with the Xbox version will not happen at this late stage. Remedy has a deep heritage in PC gaming and would love to see a PC version available to its PC followers, ultimately however this decision lies with our publisher.

If this statement did indeed come from Remedy - and we're looking into that - it's not good news for PC users looking forward to the game, as it suggests that even if the game does grace the system, it'll be late.

Then again, after Halo and Gears of War, PC users are getting used to this kind of treatment from Microsoft.

It's true – Remedy comments on No PC version rumors. [BrightFalls]

Today, we shared with our employees at Ensemble that we have plans to close the studio after Halo Wars RTM. Such a decision is never easy. Like any business, we’re accountable for making tradeoffs and the right level of investments that will drive profit and future growth. However, as we reviewed our first-party portfolio and where we need to invest and divest our resources to achieve our long-term strategies, it became clear to us that closing the studio and redeploying those resources to other more scalable ventures is the right thing for our business at this time.

Unfortunately, our decision to close Ensemble will adversely impact many of the studio's team members. Following the closure, the Ensemble leadership team will form a new entity and have agreed to partner with Microsoft to develop future products and provide support for Halo Wars post launch. While the new company will be hiring a portion of the Ensemble employees, its size and resources prevent it from offering positions to the entire Ensemble team. We hope to integrate much of this creative talent into MGS or the broader IEB team, where we have relevant openings.

Ensemble Studios has produced many notable games over the years – including the Ages franchise – that have helped MGS become a leader in interactive entertainment. And now, Halo Wars is already proving to be a hit by people who have seen and played early versions of the game. The Ensemble team is committed to continuing its development, testing and support of Halo Wars through to the completion of halo wars. We're also working closely with the studio’s leaders to ensure a smooth launch of the game in early 2009 and continuing support thereafter. We will support the studio in every way possible as they work to deliver this highly anticipated game.

This action notwithstanding, I want to emphasize that the overall investment Microsoft is making in video game development is not diminished, and we will continue to bring in talent to work on titles and franchises where we'll see the most ROI. Our priority is to continue to nurture the creative freedom that allows us to successfully drive our business strategy forward. Meanwhile, we're launching some outstanding games over the next few months. We've just launched Too Human and Viva Piñata: Trouble in Paradise, and soon we'll see many other games hit retail store shelves, including Scene It! 2, Fable 2, Gears of War 2, Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts, Lips and, of course, Halo Wars.

I want to thank you for your hard work and focus as we head into the next few months and make this a blowout year for first-party games. Please be supportive and respectful of our Ensemble colleagues as they go through this tough time.

Phil

Phil Spencer: Ensemble closure is "right thing for our business" [GI.biz]

I'll admit MGS has not had success in the MMO space, and that happened under my leadership, so I take full responsibility. It's a tough and challenging space that's evolving all the time – a lot of shifting sands. We haven't been able to crack the code.

There there Shane, chin up! What do we do when we fall off the horse?

Shane Kim Talks 360 MMO Washouts [Edge]