The first of many? Microsoft shuts down Flight Simulator studio

SCE may be confident that Sony‘s games divisions are safe, but Microsoft‘s own games department suffered a whack of the axe. ACES, the studio responsible for the Microsoft Flight Simulator series, has officially been shut down.

SCE may be confident that Sony‘s games divisions are safe, but Microsoft‘s own games department suffered a whack of the axe. ACES, the studio responsible for the Microsoft Flight Simulator series, has officially been shut down.

This news followed straight after Microsoft’s report that they’ll be letting go of 5,000 people as part of their restructuring plan. ACES is the latest of Microsoft’s Studios to be shut down, following first FASA Studio (responsible for ShadowRun and Mech Warrior), and then Ensemble (Age of Empires and Halo Wars).

Microsoft studios who are in the clear (so far) are Lionhead Studios (which recently released Fable II), and Rare (Banjo and Kazooie 3). These two will probably be kept on. Microsoft may have a large pool of third-party devs to support the Xbox 360, but losing first-party studios will ultimately mean less exclusives, which is bad for business.

Via Venture Beat