This week’s big storyline was a huge round of Microsoft’s layoffs, which influenced several teams and projects under the Xbox Game Studios banner. This includes Zenimax Online Studios, the developer behind the huge success. Elders scroll onlineWe saw future MMOs being discarded. Now new details have been revealed about the project. It is called Blackbird, the codenamed sci-fi noir third-person shooter with dynamic movement mechanics.
So far, on the list of victims from these Xbox layoffs, there are Rare’s Everwild, The Reboot of Perfect Dark, John Romero’s unreleased games from Doom Creator, and the ambitious sounding project Blackbird. Little was known about the game when it covered the cancellation news (and subsequent unemployment at Zenimax Online Studios). All that was confirmed was that they had been working on for over 7 years with ESO support, a new IP and built on a brand new engine.
Speculation based on job ads and rumors suggested it was an MMO with a sci-fi setting. Now, a new report from Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier confirms the speculation and reveals other details about the game and its development. To me, it seems like one day we’ll get a place on our best multiplayer game list.
“Blackbird was the third online router shooter, unlike the popular game Destiny set within the new franchise, based on information learned from ZOS employees,” he said. “It had a sci-fi, noir aesthetic, similar to films like Blade Runner, with an emphasis on vertical movement. Players can use their ability to throw themselves around tall buildings like double jumps, air dashing, grappling hooks and superheroes.”
Schreier has been making a bit of a uttering noise at first, but the game has progressed pretty quickly in recent years, seeing the 2028 release date, as both Tech issues and Elder Scrolls Online success have taken away most of Zos’ resources. Zos apparently handled Microsoft executives in this year’s “impressive vertical slices”;
The vertical slice clearly made a big impression. “Executives only have free language for the project,” the report argues. According to sources from Schreier, Microsoft’s gaming head Phil Spencer was very surprised by Blackbird, and Matt Booty, head of Xbox Game Studios, had to leave the controller from him so that meetings on the game could continue as planned.
Due to the fact that the game is progressing fairly quickly and smoothly for reception, employees at Zenimax Online Studios were clearly unsure of knowing that Project Blackbird had been cancelled. I have to admit, after hearing about the exciting premise of the game (and the fact that an entirely new engine was built for it), I am also quite surprised.
Knowing that it was planned to be a Looter Shooter MMO has, of course, brought some natural concerns, and Microsoft shares strongly enough to call it quits. Destiny 2 is in a bit of decline, and other recent newcomers like the first descendants enjoy only moderate success, so it really takes something special to infiltrate that space and establish themselves as genre leaders. With Schreier reporting that Blackbird’s development team has grown to around 300 people, the saddest thing about its cancellation is, of course, the number of people whose jobs are already lost or at risk.
