J Allard — a man heavily influential to the Xbox in terms of shaping both its technology and branding — may soon be leaving Microsoft, if rumors swirling out of the company are accurate.

ZDNet reports (via Kotaku) that sources say Allard — who currently holds the titles of Chief Experience Officer and Chief Technology Officer, Entertainment and Devices Division — has had a falling out with Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer over the recent cancelation of the latest project Allard was overseeing: the Courier Tablet. The project, which was essentially a dual-screen tablet computer, had evidently made it all the way up to “incubation” status (a middle-state between research products and products that go on for production), but was cut short by Microsoft last month without much explanation.

Now ZDNet reports that one source (who has been “a pretty reliable tipster in the past”) says Allard has gone on sabbatical, and is “unlikely to return to Microsoft.” Other chatter has it that Allard was unhappy over the Courier Tablet cancelation, with another source claiming it was Ballmer who “showed Allard the door” over the Courier disagreement. When contacted about Allard’s current status and future, Microsoft gave ZDNet a basic “We’re not commenting on rumor or speculation” response.

The social gaming publisher Playdom has acquired Acclaim, reports Edge Online. Acclaim CEO Howard Marks will run the newly acquired studio, while chief technology officer Neil Malhotra will transition into the studio’s senior technical officer.

“Joining forces with Playdom is a natural fit,” said Marks. “Both companies share the vision of connecting people globally through quality social games. Our deep expertise in building multi-player online games and Playdom’s vast player community will help us bring out the next generation of social games.”

“Bringing Howard and Neil into Playdom strengthens our leadership and bolsters our position as an innovative games developer for the future,? said John Pleasants, CEO of Playdom. ?Howard and Neil have worked together building and operating games for many years, and their pipeline of new games is strong. We are also excited about opening our first Los Angeles based social game development studio which gives us access to all of the game development talent in Southern California. We look forward to big things from this team.?