As part of the massive Microsoft layoffs announced today, Redmond will also shutter Xbox Entertainment Studios.
As first reported by Re/Code, the shutdown will occur in the next few months, Xbox chief Phil Spencer wrote in a memo to staff.
Xbox Entertainment Studios was founded last year in order to produce original content for the Xbox platform. The L.A.-based, 125-person studio was led by former CBS television president Nancy Tellem, who remains "committed to new, original programming already in production," Spencer said today.
That includes the Signal to Noise documentary series announced in December, the first installment of which will tackle the rise and fall of Atari, and that recent Atari cartridge scavenger hunt in the New Mexico desert.
Also still on track is Halo: Nightfall, a live action series being produced by Ridley Scott, and the Halo TV series that is being developed in coordination with Steven Spielberg and is set to debut next year. Both "will continue as planned with 343 Industries," Spencer said today.
Interactive sports content like NFL on Xbox will also continue, but otherwise, Xbox users shouldn't expect too much more original content out of Redmond. Look to "our app partnerships with world-class content providers" for that, Spencer said.
Some of the original content Microsoft teased back in April included "an unscripted series about international street soccer, [and] an original drama about robotic servants in a dystopian world."
"Change is never easy, but I believe the changes announced today help us better align with our long-term goals," Spencer said today. "We have an incredible opportunity ahead of us to define what the next generation of gaming looks like for the growing Xbox community. I have a great deal of confidence in this team and know that with clarity of focus on our mission and our customers we can accomplish great things together. We already have."
Microsoft's layoffs, meanwhile, will affect 18,000 workers, about 12,500 of which will be from Nokia.