Update: ZeniMax Online Studios senior producer Chris Linn has confirmed the MMO’s cancellation in a post on LinkedIn.
Meanwhile, following news of the cancellation, ZeniMax Online Studios have confirmed that president Matt Firor will be “stepping away later this month”. Firor had lead the studio since their founding in 2007, and will be replaced by new studio head Jo Burba. Burba will be part of a leadership team that also includes ESO executive producer Susan Kath and game director Rich Lambert.
“Together, this leadership team has spearheaded many of ESO’s biggest ideas and expansions and will continue to make this game something we’re all proud of…” reads a message attributed to Firor posted to ZOS’ Twitter, “There are many more stories to be told, adventures to be had, and I know this amazing community will carry that shared legacy and success forwards.”
Original story follows:
Microsoft have reportedly cancelled an MMORPG that was in the works at ZeniMax Online Studios, developers of The Elder Scrolls Online, as part of the company’s wider layoffs.
This is according to a post from Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier, which follows separate reports that the layoffs have seen the cancellation of Rare’s Everwild. It very much looks like a pool of canned projects are accumulating at MS’s feet as part of these cuts, though the company are still yet to confirm anything.
This ZeniMax Online Studios MMORPG was codenamed “Blackbird” and had been in development since 2018, according to Schreier. It would have been the second game ZOS has been principal developer of since their founding in 2007, the first being Elder Scrolls Online, which has received regular updates and expansions in the decade and change since release.
While we’ve not seen or heard much about Blackbird over the years, ZeniMax Online Studios posted job applications seeking people to work on a new engine for a new game around 2019.
“We’ve learned a lot bringing the world of The Elder Scrolls to life, and it’s time for us to take those lessons and build a new AAA IP,” reads a careers page on ZOS’ website. “The vision for our next game is grand in every sense of the word, and that’s why we’re developing a new engine to support the needs of the project and studio. Because we’re in early pre-production, this is the perfect time to join us and make your mark on an incredible new project.”
If the reports are legit, it’s sad we’ll never get to see what Blackbird could have evolved into. I’ve never really gotten that into ESO despite loving an old roll of paper, simply because I prefer Elder Scrolls as a single player game. But much like its brother from another mother Fallout 76, ESO has certainly stuck around for the long haul, evolving a lot over the years and establishing a loyal audience.
As much as the reported game cancellation sucks, though, it’s obviously the people being impacted by these layoffs that really matter. “As one illustration of just how sloppy and chaotic today’s mass Xbox layoff has been,” Schreier wrote in a follow-up post, “some employees at Zenimax Online Studios are now watching their Slack accounts abruptly get locked out. No message from HR, no word on whether they still have a job, just an ominous Slack deactivation.”
Christ.
