RIP, Microsoft ThumbTack and Office Accounting, and Kameo 2? |
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RIP, Microsoft ThumbTack and Office Accounting, and Kameo 2?
Microsoft is looking slimmer and slimmer all the time, at least when it comes to its far-flung product lines. We have some more Microsoft cutbacks to report this evening, following the trend of the company making cuts in areas where it hasn't exactly been setting the technology world on fire.
A report today by the video-game news site CVG says that the company has axed plans for "Kameo 2," a sequel to one of the Xbox 360's launch titles. The game was actually called off earlier this year, the site says, but its demise wasn't widely known. CVG reports that Rare, the Microsoft studio behind the game, is working on titles for the launch of Project Natal, Microsoft's upcoming motion-sensing game controller.
Microsoft, for the record, is mum on the topic. "We haven’t made any announcements about the development of “Kameo 2,' " an Xbox spokesman said via email today in response to our inquiry. "Rare is currently working on several projects that will be announced at a later date."
Meanwhile, Mary Jo Foley reports that Microsoft's Live Labs group has ended its work on the ThumbTack bookmarking service, following the company's decision to shift about half of the Live Labs team into product groups earlier this year.
Also on the list of recent casualties is the Office Accounting product, which Microsoft last week said it would discontinue. All of this is in addition to the recently announced plan to wind down the MSN Direct service. Earlier in the year, the company brought the axe down on products including Microsoft Money and Encarta.
About Todd Bishop
Todd Bishop is co-founder and managing editor of TechFlash. He has covered Microsoft and the technology industry for more than five years, most recently as a daily newspaper reporter and blogger based in Seattle.
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