The departure of Microsoft Xbox architect Eric Neustadter announced Friday might scare some savvy fans of "Halo," one of the most popular online shooter ever created for a game console. His loss is potentially bigger than Xbox Live.

He is among the most public faces of Microsoft's brand behind Xbox evangelist Larry Hryb aka Major Nelson and Xbox boss Phil Spencer, spending days working on Xbox since 2002, said Venture Beat.

Microsoft Xbox Eric Neustadter spent 18 years in the company, about 14 years of which were for Xbox. "It's been an amazing ride," Neustadter wrote on Twitter. "So long, and thanks for all the Gamerscore!"

He is sometimes referred to as "e," a gamertag, the first one ever created, which was on August 13, 2002.

According to Gamespot Neustadter has in his LinkedIn page, the following positions while in the Xbox Team in Microsoft: Architect, Gaming Ninja, Director of Architecture, Operations Manager, Operations Program Manager, Senior Consultant and Consultant.

Xbox Live's growth has been very significant. As per the last financial period, it had 39 million active users, a 28 percent growth compared from last year of the same period.

Microsoft Xbox Eric Neustadter helped in the transformation of Xbox Live from a desktop PC network to a service that connects millions of gamers. He recently served as the Xbox architecture director and the Major Nelson podcast co-host.

He helped create and develop Xbox Live to be a premiere online gaming service. With him at the helm, Xbox became the first successful subscription-based online system for a video game console.

Microsoft's Xbox is now seen as the industry standard for multiplayer and social services in the world of games. According to Venture Beat, Sony copied many of its features for PlayStation Network.

Microsoft Xbox Eric Neustadter just returned from a sabbatical and has not indicated his plans going forward, said Engadget. It is not clear if e's departure is related to the round of layoffs which affect about a thousand people.