Gamasutra and Steve Lacey are reporting that the cut backs at Microsoft have hit the ACES Team hard, meaning that Flight SIM, probably one of the coolest games ever made, and one that works well with kids and grandparents is in serious trouble.

Three years ago I visited the Flight SIM team with my son, and as we walked up and down the hallways (my son is an avid flight SIM gamer and it has prompted him to get his pilots license) one of the developers game him a copy of the game, and each developer that we met signed the box. That is how cool the ACES team was then, and still through now. When I went to Microsoft in December 2008 on a visit, one of the ACES Team leads asked me how the kid was doing, and if he had finished his pilot’s license yet. Their ability to extend that personal touch throughout the process is one of the reasons that ACES was one of the best groups in Microsoft to know or work with.

Gamasutra reports that:

Development sources have told Gamasutra that a large portion of the dev house’s staff has been let go – with multiple reports indicating that the entire Flight Simulator team has been axed. Source: Gamasutra

With an interesting follow up by fellow Seattle blogger Steve Lacey about how this is the end of an era. And it is the end of an era; Flight SIM was a great game that crosses generations. When my Dad and my Kid can play the same game in tandem and be joking and having a good time with each other, those are what good memories are based on. I personally owe a deep thanks to everyone on the ACES Team that I have met, worked with, and have entertained my Kid and my Dad (sorry I am not a big gamer) for a decade.

This one hits home, my friends are involved, which shows just how small the world can be when facing the monumental layoffs that are happening now. At last count, with Microsoft it was 1400 people yesterday with another 3600 over the next 18 months, not including contractors. Some reports on the internet had contractors at an equal or higher number of layoffs which most of us who follow Microsoft knew was going to come. While it could not come at a worst time, there is always a positive spin on this.

The people who worked in ACES are some of the smartest people in the room, with the smaller game studios here in the Seattle area they should try to hire as many of them as possible. The other bright spot is if they decide to band together and go solo, they could make their own company, making their own Flight Simulator that could take the market. If they let the whole team go, or the majority of the team go, and with the severance package they were handed, they might just have enough horse power and money to launch their own product.

There would be a rich irony here, and not one that is far from what has happened in the past. There are many ex-microsofties who have moved on to start their own companies. Starting their own flight sim program or company would get a lot of coverage in the gaming press. They would start off with the communities’ good will, and everyone’s best wishes. It will be interesting to see what comes next, but from my family to the ACES team, we all wish you the best of luck, and our fondest wishes.