One of many video games that was stated to have been canceled as a part of Microsoft’s newest wave of cuts was a brand new MMO from The Elder Scrolls Online developer ZeniMax Online Studios. Extra data has now come to gentle about this supposed mission, which is reported to have been within the works below the codename “Blackbird.”
IGN reported that Blackbird was a “new, sci-fi IP” and it had been in some type of improvement since 2018. The report added that ZeniMax Online Studios was making a brand new recreation engine for it, which can have contributed to its prolonged improvement schedule.
Pre-production on Blackbird was “going effectively,” the report stated, including that the studio was “actively ramping up” with the idea that the sport might enter full manufacturing. The report went on to say higher-ups at Xbox accepted the sport advancing to the following stage of improvement, with builders on The Elder Scrolls Online and different groups shifting to the sport to assist this ramp up.
The whole crew engaged on the sport has been affected by the sport’s cancellation, the report stated, including that “a number of lots of” of builders on the Maryland-based developer had been let go.
Microsoft confirmed the cancellation of Uncommon’s Everwild and The Initiative’s Excellent Darkish, however the firm has in a roundabout way stated something in regards to the rumored new recreation from ZeniMax. Xbox boss Matt Booty did, nevertheless, affirm that “a number of” unannounced tasks will not go ahead. ZeniMax’s prime boss, president Matt Firor, introduced he was leaving the corporate on the day the cuts had been introduced.
Microsoft has 40+ video games within the works going ahead, with titles like Gears of Battle: E-Day and Fable set for launch in 2026, together with the rumored return of Halo for the franchise’s twenty fifth anniversary.