ESO is also the
abbreviation for
Ensemble Studios Online, Ensemble Studios' gaming
connection site and
matchmaking service, launched with the release of
Age of Mythology. It is at this point still young when compared to
Blizzard's
Battle.net.
Ensemble Studios, whose
titles made while not owned by
Microsoft, were formerly
published by Microsoft, and they are now are owned by Microsoft and therefore still published by Microsoft. Independently, they did not previously have the resources to purchase and operate such a site, and as such, previous titles such as
Age of Empires and
Age of Kings were routed through the
MSN Gaming Zone.
ESO currently consists of several
channels of chatting, automated matchmaking, four main game types, and advanced setup. Other types of games such as
scenarios and games with
cheats turned on are available through advanced setup, but the win and loss are not applied to the rating ladders from advanced setup. It also supports a friend and pest lists, and lacks a good system for private chatting, as it allows only for
private messages rather than a private room.
On an average day, at any given time during offpeak hours, there are roughly 2000 people
online and connected to ESO.