AC&S Studio

Background
Formed in 1988, AC&S Studio was a specialty game division of Microsoft. It was originally known as "Bruce Artwork Organization Limited" (BAO Lt) and became part of Microsoft in December 1995, when it became Microsoft Simulation Group. The AC&S name was first used on-screen in 2001, and it became the official name a year later. AC&S was closed on January 22, 2009 as part of a move that cut 5,000 jobs at Microsoft. "AC&S" stands for Action, Combat & Simulations, and the acronym is supposed to mean "Aces."

Logo (May 31-December 25, 2001)
Visuals: Continuing from the preceding Microsoft Games logo, a letterboxed image of a cloudy sky split in two halves fades in. One half is with golden clouds, and the other half is blue with white clouds. Some more white clouds are shown near the bottom of the image. We also see the words

ACTION, COMBAT & SIMULATIONS AC&S G A M E S T U D I O

"ACTION, COMBAT & SIMULATIONS" is on the top bar, while "G A M E S T U D I O" is on the bottom bar. "AC&S", which is in a stylized font, is placed over the image. The logo fades to black after a few seconds.

Technique: Fading effects.

Audio: The audio from the preceding Microsoft Games logo continues over this.

Availability: Seen on Microsoft Train Simulator for the PC and Bloodwake for Xbox.