Horrible news, here. Remember the update about Microsoft’s Gamerscore Blog being retired? As it turned out then, the staffers didn’t look like they were getting laid off of anything, but simply shuffled or absorbed into other parts of the company.

Well, as it turns out NOW that the staffers weren’t being shuffled or absorbed at all – rather, it was all a preface for them getting the boot. The retrenchment of the Gamerscore Blog staff, it seems, is but a part of Microsoft’s 1,400-employee layoff plans.

This disturbing update comes directly from former Gamerscore head honcho Chris Paladino’s Twitter account.

Chin up, guys. You had a good run.

We’re not too sure on how to take this news seriously, but for the most part, it seems harmless: Gamerscore Blog, one of the bigger ways that Microsoft had used to reach out to the gaming community is now being retired. No, there wasn’t any bloodletting involved (or so they say), it’s just something companies call ‘re-appropriation of resources’. Meaning that the staff of Gamerscore Blog didn’t get canned, they just got placed somewhere else.

For instance, the stuff we usually went to Gamerscore Blog for will be viewable on the Xbox 360’s Inside Xbox Channel. The bloggers who had manned the retired blog can still be read on Xbox.com’s Voices page. And the infamous Major Nelson? He’s not going to stop blogging and podcasting any time soon, you can make sure of that.

Not quite good news, but any news is better than rampant sacking.