Sources: Microsoft to close completely its Aces game studio

It was unclear on January 22, the day Microsoft announced plans to lay off 5,000 employees, exactly which products, teams and job functions were cut. The day after, it still is fairly murky.

But it does seem that tips that the company's Entertainment & Devices (E&D) unit (Windows Mobile, Xbox, Zune) was impacted most heavily by the first round of layoffs. And it's increasingly sounding like the games side of the house bore the brunt of the E&D cuts.

Microsoft has closed completely its Aces Studio, the game group that developed and maintained Flight Simulator, sources close to the company confirmed. Aces' other franchises include Combat Flight Simulator and Train Simulator.

GameSutra is reporting that the Aces Studio was affected heavily by yesterday's corporate layoffs. I hear Aces isn't just "damaged," but it's done. Aces will join the small but growing list of former Microsoft game studios, which includes Ensemble, Bungie and Digital Anvil, among others.

I don't have official confirmation from Microsoft on this. But that's what I'm hearing, directly and indirectly, from various sources.

Anyone out there have more details or specifics about other products/teams that are being eliminated as a result of Microsoft cuts?