Jason Schreier: Xbox Executives Were Blown Away by an Upcoming Game. Then They Canceled It
- Thread starter HeisenbergFX4
- Start date
TheThreadsThatBindUs
Member
The problem is that an unbelievably awesome game doesn't automatically mean it's going to be a massive sales success; especially so for MS.
Xbox execs also probably realise that they're abysmal judges of what makes an awesome game or not. After all they shipped Redfall.
ProtoByte
Weeb Underling
That's precisely what the Monolith leadership did, and they failed - they couldn't even go off on their own, and had to come under EA to make another licensed game after spending 4 years battling with WB because they wanted to make an original IP instead of using their licenses. Benzies went off to make his own studio having been dissatisfied with T2. They released Mindseye. Glen Schofield went off to make Callisto Protocol from Dead Space being effectively shafted by EA. That studio has been filed down to support work and Schofield is gone. And these independent outfits, of which there are many, were founded at a time when investment cash was circulating like water.
Microsoft leadership is clueless, but in all of these layoffs and cancellations, I also see studio leadership and workforces that are unapologetically unproductive and delusional. Whatever job you're working at, I don't think you or I would be let off the hook for 7 months with no deliverables.
The game dev scene needs to get back in touch with reality. You are well within your right to want hands off management, no crunch, high salaries, perks, massive teams to distribute every minor responsibility, and 6-10 years to actually get a project done, and for that project to actually come out and not be the all or nothing for the studio. Go and collect it at Mount Crackhead Delusions.
Audiophile
Member
The shareholders needed an extra thruppence ha'penny on their bonus balance sheet.
Felessan
Member
Unlikely. GTAO for some reason doesn't bring a lot of money, probably poorly though monetization.
ProtoByte
Weeb Underling
Report : GTA Online Revenue Exceeded $700 Million In Past 12 Months
GTA series is the crown jewel for RockStar Games and with the immense success of GTA V and its online component, GTA Online, the series has proved that it
segmentnext.com
GTA Online made $500m last year according to new report - RockstarINTEL
GTA Online made Rockstar Games nearly $500m, yes half a billion, in just 12 months nearly 10 years on according to a new report. This comes after Take-Two Interactive recently announced GTA V had passed 185 million copies sold. Insane money making In a new article by The Wall Street Journal, the...
rockstarintel.com
This is obviously not counting the copies sold required to get to GTA Online.
This is from more than 7 years ago.
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SneakersSO
Gold Member
I would say - the western game dev scene is having that wake up call. For the founders you mentioned - each of those have very similar stories regarding their projects, and while yes, mismanagement does play a part, theres also a factor about using resources and setting up pipelines for actually delivering.
I'm currently writing up a longer post in the other thread cause someone inquired about the realities of the OEM Xbox and thats a good place to thought-dump, but I will circle back to this because there is definitely a conversation about modern game dev practices that need to be re-examined, but heres my knee-jerk blurb:
My game of the year, probably the generation, is Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, not just because of the publishing structure that Kepler and Sandfall pursued, or how incredible the game is (on its own merits its my GotY), but really its because they put into place a development structure that is far more akin to how Hollywood used to make movies, where instead of having these massive creative teams all within a studio lot doing all the work, instead they got to outsource so much of their work to a variety of outsourcing shops who were specialized in the discipline they were producing deliverables for. Yes, they had a 35~ dev team, and yes they used loads of contractor groups to make up for the lack of manpower, but this sort of structure goes a long way towards sustainable game dev practices in the modern era imo. and its something Jason touched on in the later portions of his 2nd to last book.
One of the big benefits this structure had for their ability to deliver this sprawling game out on a reasonable budget (their break-even was < 1m sold), with a reasonable dev time table (about 3 years from when Kepler gave them the full greenlight) is that it allowed them to focus on the product. This is one of those aspects thats hard to really describe to folks unless you've worked on a game at a studio, but most devs at a studio, depending on the discipline but most departments have a lot of buy-in when it comes to the work thats being produced. This can cause a ton of wasted and inefficient dev effort as squads or pods break-off and explore things that might never coalesce, all because offering buy-in power/authority is sort of one of the big perks you offer to get folks to come in.
With the streamlined art-house contractor structure that Sandfall pursued, it allowed their core creative team to have the outsourced developers be managed by folks who were adhering to their shared vision. Its far easier to deliver a shared vision of 30-40 core creatives and 100+ devs who are just delivering the work, than it is to have 200 devs who all have a voice of sorts. At some point, someone has to sit down and make the sausage, and the model Sandfall pursued ensured that there were folks who were well aware they were merely delivering work, versus those who were helping craft the direction and vision that they ultimately executed on.
Wolzard
Member
I wonder if Phil Spencer actually has any power. My impression is that what keeps him in office is that he has to accept everything in silence.
He might even find a cool game, but if the game needs more time and money and the order from above is to cut it, there's not much he can do.
He might even find a cool game, but if the game needs more time and money and the order from above is to cut it, there's not much he can do.
Last Hearth
Member
I bet Hulse thought Concord was awesome too. They cancelled it because they thought it was likely to flop.
Imru’ al-Qays
Member
Have you considered that Microsoft is incompetent
Loomy
Thinks Microaggressions are Real
They probably determined what it would cost to complete and maintain and decided it wouldn't be worth it.
I still agree that this is most likely an exaggeration though.
Buggy Loop
Member
WTF are they doing
Negotiator101
Member
Well this makes sense, the fact it was only a vertical slice says it all really.
semiconscious
Member
yeah, jason told me that they had to actually smash his controller to bits to get him to stop playing that one...
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The_Observer
Member
In a normal world, yeah. But this is clown world mixed with Microsoft's incompetence so the story might be easily true, even if sneaky schreier says it
ZehDon
Member
Depending on the dev cost sunk and the required cost to actually finish the rest of the game, I can absolutely see a good game getting cancelled. For example, Anthem actually played extremely well - it's flying mechanics were brilliant - but it was clear they "found the game" far too late in the development process, and didn't have the time or money to actually finish it properly, so launched a barely finished product that was poorly received for a reason. I'd reserve judgement until more details are available. With that said, Spencer and his team have clearly shown they have no fucking clue what a good game looks like, so cancelling something that's actually special wouldn't surprise me all that much.
Radical_3d
Member
Zenimax Online Studios…Fuckin' Booty, let the man play the game.
Yeah, I don't think we miss on something, boys…
TransTrender
Gold Member
Better or worse than Scalebound?
Represent.
Represent(ative) of bad opinions
Who cares. These Xbox guys have abysmal taste. If they loved it, it means nothing. They loved Crackhead 3, Redfall, and Halo Infinite also.
Felessan
Member
GTAO makes ~500 mil per year in revenue, ESO do 180 mil, again in revenue.This^ is from 2016 btw.Report : GTA Online Revenue Exceeded $700 Million In Past 12 Months
GTA series is the crown jewel for RockStar Games and with the immense success of GTA V and its online component, GTA Online, the series has proved that it
gta-online-made-500m-last-year-according-to-new-report/
There is no way GTAO do x3-4 more in profit than ESO in revenue.
And GTAO numbers are small compared to it's size and name. Fornite do 6 billion, LoL 1 billion, Genshin 2.5 bil
GTAO profit numbers so small that they can't even pull out T2 from red, that is ~very~ unusual for successful live service game.
ToadMan
Member
Well if you commit to releasing first party day and date on GP and lose money what are the solutions? Apparently they don't have the balls to terminate that policy.
There is one way to stop the bleeding - stop making first party games.
But instead of just releasing Zenimax back into the wild, they've decided to take games away from everyone now - even Xbox players.
There is one way to stop the bleeding - stop making first party games.
But instead of just releasing Zenimax back into the wild, they've decided to take games away from everyone now - even Xbox players.
Pasta la Vista
Member
So, what was the game?
SILKYSMOOTH30FPS
Member
I don't believe this. What dev do they have that is even capable of creating a quality pvp game? Sounds to me like some bullshit.
But what i do hope is that there's a gameplay leak in the upcoming months, and i want to be wrong. Won't be wrong, though.
But what i do hope is that there's a gameplay leak in the upcoming months, and i want to be wrong. Won't be wrong, though.
adamsapple
Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
It was an unannounced MMO that was supposedly in development for a while.
I'm amazed at how Microsoft managed to convince everyone that they were the "good guys" by protecting the market from Google and Amazon and then protecting Activision from Bobby Kotick.
The strategy should be to accuse others of doing what you do and being who you are.
In addition to saying exactly the opposite of what you intend, if you are trying to consolidate and monopolize the market, say that you are doing the opposite, that you want and will increase competition.
The strategy should be to accuse others of doing what you do and being who you are.
In addition to saying exactly the opposite of what you intend, if you are trying to consolidate and monopolize the market, say that you are doing the opposite, that you want and will increase competition.
Mortisfacio
Member
I've heard reports of a man in a box screaming into the ether
10101
Gold Member
I doubt Phil and the other execs would know a good game if it came up and slapped them in the face. They have proven time and again that they don't have a clue imo. Maybe it was great, maybe not - they say everything is amazing so who the fuck knows.
Sorry for all the job losses but tbh, anyone working at affected studios should have seen the writing on the wall a long time ago and jumped ship.
Sorry for all the job losses but tbh, anyone working at affected studios should have seen the writing on the wall a long time ago and jumped ship.
xrnzaaas
Member
Well, if TESO and F76 are still popular and making money (and there's no risk of that changing in the foreseeable future), then maybe they shouldn't have started working on another big online game?
archangelmorph
Gold Member
I just don't understand MSFTs strategy anymore.
When you decide to get out of the hardware game and focus on software to build your business, diversification and growth of your software portfolio is something you should be throwing money into, not pulling it out by haphazardly cutting heads, projects and studios all over the place.
It's absolutely fucking bewildering.
When all their hardware sales go down the toilet now the word is out that Xbox is no longer a console brand, it seems like they will likely kneejerk further and shrink the business with more cuts in a desperate and shortsighted bid to balance the books and make their annual P&L look good, but inadvertently destroying the scope for revenues in subsequent years because they simply don't understand that being a successful publisher requires you to balance P&L across multi-year cycles and not single year cycles.
Get your heads out your ass MSFT.
You're not going to have an Xbox left at this rate.
Where's the fucking strategy for growth here?
I simply don't understand where they expect this business to go..??
When you decide to get out of the hardware game and focus on software to build your business, diversification and growth of your software portfolio is something you should be throwing money into, not pulling it out by haphazardly cutting heads, projects and studios all over the place.
It's absolutely fucking bewildering.
When all their hardware sales go down the toilet now the word is out that Xbox is no longer a console brand, it seems like they will likely kneejerk further and shrink the business with more cuts in a desperate and shortsighted bid to balance the books and make their annual P&L look good, but inadvertently destroying the scope for revenues in subsequent years because they simply don't understand that being a successful publisher requires you to balance P&L across multi-year cycles and not single year cycles.
Get your heads out your ass MSFT.
You're not going to have an Xbox left at this rate.
Where's the fucking strategy for growth here?
I simply don't understand where they expect this business to go..??
Heisenberg007
Gold Journalism
They were like:
"Nope. This is too good! We only greenlight mediocre games, and that's what we will create. Cancel this high-quality game right away!"
"Nope. This is too good! We only greenlight mediocre games, and that's what we will create. Cancel this high-quality game right away!"
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Baemono
Member
One company does that
crackajack
Member
Redfall was also going to be great, until it wasn't.
You can't really exactly predict success, but quality can be judged and success should overall be sufficiently predictable if you offer enough variety and not push one thing too much. Some games may undeservedly underperform while a few hit what people want and sell nice. Xbox suits seem to have trouble to not praise average crap too much. Externally it is natural to not talk badly about your products, but they might have no critical thinking at all and apply no necessary pressure internally as well if this great game is possibly just average crap needing a lot of work and no one of the devs was told that before.
You can't really exactly predict success, but quality can be judged and success should overall be sufficiently predictable if you offer enough variety and not push one thing too much. Some games may undeservedly underperform while a few hit what people want and sell nice. Xbox suits seem to have trouble to not praise average crap too much. Externally it is natural to not talk badly about your products, but they might have no critical thinking at all and apply no necessary pressure internally as well if this great game is possibly just average crap needing a lot of work and no one of the devs was told that before.
Angry_Megalodon
Member
Remember the Halo Infinite gameplay reveal and the Craig memes. Execs saw that and thought it was fine while everyone else was laughing, even shills could see it was an epic fail. Imagine the level of delusion of those who believed fans would be impressed. Pretty much the same as the idiot who greenlit Concord or Marathon.
MandingoMcThickens
Member
Washington, but go off
Hudo
Member
Well. I've got the coast right, at least.
HeisenbergFX4
Member
https://www.trueachievements.com/news/canceled-xbox-mmo-project-blackbird
Renowned for creating The Elder Scrolls Online, one of the best Xbox MMOs you can play right now, ZeniMax Online Studios has been working on a brand-new IP for the last several years under the codename Project Blackbird.
Little was known about the project, other than an interview in 2022 with the game's creative director Ben Jones, who revealed that almost 200 people were working on the "very large-scale project." There had also been a slew of job listings over the last couple of years, which suggested that Blackbird could be aiming for a more modern or futuristic vibe, with some listings asking for developers with experience with driving mechanics.
Now, via trusted sources close to Project Blackbird, we can corroborate reports that the game has been canceled and can also reveal what ZeniMax had planned for the MMORPG.
While the game offered a huge open world to explore, there was a focus on the planet's capital, Exodus, and the many secrets and mysteries hidden within the hovering megacity. Despite being controlled by a sentient AI called PAN, which operated the city's systems and kept everyone in check, five alien syndicates ruled the population in a stratified society with human Revenants acting as a neutral force to maintain balance.
The syndicates were being designed to act as a faction system similar to Bethesda Game Studios' RPGs, and included the Menst, an ancient race of arrogant aliens that believe they're superior to every other species. Alternatively, there were the Calpiten, famous media experts who charm and manipulate their way through the power struggles in the city.
There was also a strange aquatic species called Nemocytes that used exosuits to survive in Exodus. Completely opposite to the Nemocytes were the W'Hurran, a tall, furry species of clannish aliens who were masters of business.
Finally, there were the Trahet, a race feared and respected for their unique abilities to extract someone's deepest, darkest secrets. We would have also come across many other alien species in our travels, from humanoids and animal-esque creatures, large quadropeds, and insectoids.
When not exploring Exodus, you'd be sent out on missions to unlock fresh rewards, similar to Destiny and Warframe. General missions and activities would support up to four players, while Strike missions could have been tackled by up to six players, likely due to being tougher challenges to conquer.
The main storyline involved players solving a high-profile murder and restoring order to Exodus, while repeatable assignments from PAN would see you working to maintain balance within the city, and various side quests would have seen you learning more about the aliens inhabiting the world. Large public events called firefights had also been planned, forcing you to survive within Exodus' constant power struggles.
The missions would be offered by the alien syndicates you work for, seeing you making new friends and enemies as you work to unlock powerful new rewards. Much like ZeniMax's other MMO, Blackbird would have offered players new ways to customize their character, craft and upgrade gear, and complete progressive challenges for higher-quality rewards.
There were also plans for a housing system, daily login rewards, and PvP, although, much like The Elder Scrolls Online, Blackbird would have primarily focused on co-op gameplay and shared-world elements.
ZeniMax had already planned out a launch district called Old Central, and had live service goals in mind. The team had wanted to roll out new events weekly, monthly, and quarterly to keep players busy. It's a similar event system we see in ESO now, so the events could have been filled with unique loot.
Further story chapters, including fresh Districts, main quests, and Zones, would have expanded the world further — again, a similar expansion cycle ZeniMax has used for its fantasy MMO.
According to the initial story ZeniMax was hashing out, Project Blackbird began after a high-ranking syndicate official had been found murdered in a human neighborhood. We would have been called in to investigate the murder, remove various groups creating chaos in the city, and uncover mysteries involving powerful killers and secret leaders. From there, we would then have explored the city and the dangerous outside regions, and begin to uncover more about PAN's role in Exodus.
While the game started in Exodus, seeing you tackle various jobs, a series of events would have eventually led you out into the planet's wilderness. Out in the wilds, you'd learn more about the floating megacity, as well as the Revenants' origins.
Revenants were fully customizable, and the team had already worked out three archetypes, or classes: tanky Guns for Hire, environment-controlling Tech Operators, and healer-style characters called Augments. You would define your character's personality as you progressed through the story, roleplaying various choices and interacting with NPCs that would intentionally come across as morally grey, leaving you to define your own experience.
The team was aiming to use The Elder Scrolls Online's deep character customization and monetization aspects in Blackbird, too, so there could have been some form of in-game store similar to ESO's Crown Store for additional, premium cosmetics.
We'd have completely customized our Revenant, including sculpting their body, adding scars and tattoos, skins and biomodifications, cybernetics and body suit layers, modifying various weapons, and customizing our own apartments, vehicles, and drones.
Our source tells us that the team was experimenting with the skill system when the project was shuttered this week, so nothing concrete had been laid out, but a full progression path and a skill tree would have been present. Although playing similar to Bethesda's RPGs, the team was aiming to have it feel as accessible as Destiny, as dynamic as Warframe, and encompassed in a mysterious world somewhat like Horizon Zero Dawn.
Leaning into the alien noir themes, Project Blackbird was a gritty, atmospheric, and serious in tone, plunging players into a world filled with ancient themes and mystery. Blade Runner had been used as an example for the atmosphere the team was aiming for, using traditional noir techniques for its visual and plot themes.
ZeniMax wanted players to learn to feel the rhythm while moving, pushing them to adapt to changing obstacles by ensuring the environment had its own visual language — if it looked like you could climb something, you could climb it. With that said, it would have been important that no content was blocked from players who found something challenging; it wasn't a platformer.
That's a process the team has showcased in The Elder Scrolls Online since the beginning, letting players explore content without the worry of level blocking or being unable to get the hang of a certain mechanic. Accessibility has always been one of ESO's defining factors, and likely would have been a success here if Project Blackbird had been given a chance.
With that said, traversal played a major role in the general gameplay loop, which was being designed to have players using the environment to gain the upper hand in fights. Much like the skill system, it was still early days for combat, so we're short on specifics, but multiple weapon types would have been available, alongside upgrades called Amps and the aforementioned skill system to let players craft their own playstyle when taking on enemies.
Interestingly, our source tells us that ZeniMax had been toying with ideas for multiplayer side content away from the combat that would put the traversal system to good use, included races and obstacle courses. One mode the team had been toying with was like a blend of basketball and Quidditch. Our source says, "There was a ball to dunk into a ring, and you could pass or shoot," offering an experience that felt a little like Titanfall 2, although not as fast.
The multiplayer elements and co-op gameplay would have opened up to players after they had completed the tutorial, and could experience everything the game had to offer with friends, or alone if that's what they prefer. Much like ESO, power scaling would have let players play together regardless of their level or skill, while Amps would have opened cooperative synergy.
Some studios appear to have been hit harder than others, with reports suggesting that Forza Motorsport developer Turn 10 has lost nearly 50% of its team and Candy Crush maker King has also reportedly lost around 10% of its employees.
The Initiative, the studio working on the Perfect Dark reboot, has been closed down entirely, and the game shelved. Rare's long-troubled Everwild has also been canceled amid the layoffs, and both ZeniMax studio head Matt Firor and Sea of Thieves director Gregg Mayles have left Microsoft.
It's been a hideous week for the industry, even more so for those affected by Microsoft's latest cuts. From what we can gather, the game cancellations came as a surprise to the teams. In fact, our source tells us that up until July 2, 2025, when Microsoft announced the layoffs, the ZeniMax Online Studios employees working on Project Blackbird had no reason to think the game would be shelved.
In fact, ZeniMax had taken a demo build to Microsoft's Redmond office in October 2024, and our source says the team had seen "good things coming out of that," so Microsoft leadership was impressed with the game.
In a development release review meeting that took place in late June, ZeniMax leadership were not expecting for Microsoft to shelve the game. In fact, the team was preparing to ramp up development after several years in pre-production and was in the process of executing a $300,000 purchase order for hardware when the news came that the game wouldn't be going ahead.
After several years in pre-production, ZeniMax was preparing to enter full production this October. Initially, the team was aiming for a two-year development window with a late 2027 release, but our source says the release window had moved to late 2028.
Employees at ZeniMax received a Teams invite after Phil Spencer's announcement about the layoff, just five minutes before the meeting started on July 2, where they found out that Blackbird wouldn't be going ahead. Staff were already on edge when the meeting started, as ZeniMax studio head Matt Firor was noticeably missing. Instead, Firor's successor, Joe Burba, led the meeting.
Firor "never shied away from delivering the bad news," according to our source, and "was an honest and earnest person," so the team already felt that something might be wrong when the meeting started.
With 9,000 employees working for Microsoft having lost their jobs, three upcoming Game Pass games canceled, and two seasoned members having left the company, it's a devastating blow for Xbox's studios. Project Blackbird had a lot of potential, and it would have been great to see ZeniMax tread new waters after 11 years with the fantastic Elder Scrolls Online.
Renowned for creating The Elder Scrolls Online, one of the best Xbox MMOs you can play right now, ZeniMax Online Studios has been working on a brand-new IP for the last several years under the codename Project Blackbird.
Little was known about the project, other than an interview in 2022 with the game's creative director Ben Jones, who revealed that almost 200 people were working on the "very large-scale project." There had also been a slew of job listings over the last couple of years, which suggested that Blackbird could be aiming for a more modern or futuristic vibe, with some listings asking for developers with experience with driving mechanics.
Now, via trusted sources close to Project Blackbird, we can corroborate reports that the game has been canceled and can also reveal what ZeniMax had planned for the MMORPG.
Blackbird's world, lore, and alien syndicates
In Blackbird, you would have played as a Revenant, an operative working for alien syndicates on a remote, tidally locked planet called Soteria. One side of the planet burned under an endless sun while the opposite side was covered in ice. Between the two regions would have been a habitable area known as The Twilight Band.While the game offered a huge open world to explore, there was a focus on the planet's capital, Exodus, and the many secrets and mysteries hidden within the hovering megacity. Despite being controlled by a sentient AI called PAN, which operated the city's systems and kept everyone in check, five alien syndicates ruled the population in a stratified society with human Revenants acting as a neutral force to maintain balance.
The syndicates were being designed to act as a faction system similar to Bethesda Game Studios' RPGs, and included the Menst, an ancient race of arrogant aliens that believe they're superior to every other species. Alternatively, there were the Calpiten, famous media experts who charm and manipulate their way through the power struggles in the city.
There was also a strange aquatic species called Nemocytes that used exosuits to survive in Exodus. Completely opposite to the Nemocytes were the W'Hurran, a tall, furry species of clannish aliens who were masters of business.
Finally, there were the Trahet, a race feared and respected for their unique abilities to extract someone's deepest, darkest secrets. We would have also come across many other alien species in our travels, from humanoids and animal-esque creatures, large quadropeds, and insectoids.
When not exploring Exodus, you'd be sent out on missions to unlock fresh rewards, similar to Destiny and Warframe. General missions and activities would support up to four players, while Strike missions could have been tackled by up to six players, likely due to being tougher challenges to conquer.
The main storyline involved players solving a high-profile murder and restoring order to Exodus, while repeatable assignments from PAN would see you working to maintain balance within the city, and various side quests would have seen you learning more about the aliens inhabiting the world. Large public events called firefights had also been planned, forcing you to survive within Exodus' constant power struggles.
The missions would be offered by the alien syndicates you work for, seeing you making new friends and enemies as you work to unlock powerful new rewards. Much like ZeniMax's other MMO, Blackbird would have offered players new ways to customize their character, craft and upgrade gear, and complete progressive challenges for higher-quality rewards.
There were also plans for a housing system, daily login rewards, and PvP, although, much like The Elder Scrolls Online, Blackbird would have primarily focused on co-op gameplay and shared-world elements.
ZeniMax had already planned out a launch district called Old Central, and had live service goals in mind. The team had wanted to roll out new events weekly, monthly, and quarterly to keep players busy. It's a similar event system we see in ESO now, so the events could have been filled with unique loot.
Further story chapters, including fresh Districts, main quests, and Zones, would have expanded the world further — again, a similar expansion cycle ZeniMax has used for its fantasy MMO.
Story and the Revenant player characters
So, where would we fit in? We would have played as augmented humans known as Revenants. On Soteria, humankind is seen as the lowest form of life, but some are given the chance to become a Revenant working for the AI PAN. These few are admired by humans and feared by the alien races for their cybernetically enhanced combat prowess, acting as mercenaries to handle dangerous tasks out of reach of anyone else.According to the initial story ZeniMax was hashing out, Project Blackbird began after a high-ranking syndicate official had been found murdered in a human neighborhood. We would have been called in to investigate the murder, remove various groups creating chaos in the city, and uncover mysteries involving powerful killers and secret leaders. From there, we would then have explored the city and the dangerous outside regions, and begin to uncover more about PAN's role in Exodus.
While the game started in Exodus, seeing you tackle various jobs, a series of events would have eventually led you out into the planet's wilderness. Out in the wilds, you'd learn more about the floating megacity, as well as the Revenants' origins.
Revenants were fully customizable, and the team had already worked out three archetypes, or classes: tanky Guns for Hire, environment-controlling Tech Operators, and healer-style characters called Augments. You would define your character's personality as you progressed through the story, roleplaying various choices and interacting with NPCs that would intentionally come across as morally grey, leaving you to define your own experience.
The team was aiming to use The Elder Scrolls Online's deep character customization and monetization aspects in Blackbird, too, so there could have been some form of in-game store similar to ESO's Crown Store for additional, premium cosmetics.
We'd have completely customized our Revenant, including sculpting their body, adding scars and tattoos, skins and biomodifications, cybernetics and body suit layers, modifying various weapons, and customizing our own apartments, vehicles, and drones.
Our source tells us that the team was experimenting with the skill system when the project was shuttered this week, so nothing concrete had been laid out, but a full progression path and a skill tree would have been present. Although playing similar to Bethesda's RPGs, the team was aiming to have it feel as accessible as Destiny, as dynamic as Warframe, and encompassed in a mysterious world somewhat like Horizon Zero Dawn.
Leaning into the alien noir themes, Project Blackbird was a gritty, atmospheric, and serious in tone, plunging players into a world filled with ancient themes and mystery. Blade Runner had been used as an example for the atmosphere the team was aiming for, using traditional noir techniques for its visual and plot themes.
Traversal was an important part of Project Blackbird's gameplay
Traversal was a core aspect of the game, with Exodus offering a vertical playground for players to explore, equipping players with a grappling hook, and, according to our source, you'd have been able to "climb and wall-run on any surface." The team wanted movement to feel natural and fun, similar to that found in games like Spider-Man and the driving in GTA.ZeniMax wanted players to learn to feel the rhythm while moving, pushing them to adapt to changing obstacles by ensuring the environment had its own visual language — if it looked like you could climb something, you could climb it. With that said, it would have been important that no content was blocked from players who found something challenging; it wasn't a platformer.
That's a process the team has showcased in The Elder Scrolls Online since the beginning, letting players explore content without the worry of level blocking or being unable to get the hang of a certain mechanic. Accessibility has always been one of ESO's defining factors, and likely would have been a success here if Project Blackbird had been given a chance.
With that said, traversal played a major role in the general gameplay loop, which was being designed to have players using the environment to gain the upper hand in fights. Much like the skill system, it was still early days for combat, so we're short on specifics, but multiple weapon types would have been available, alongside upgrades called Amps and the aforementioned skill system to let players craft their own playstyle when taking on enemies.
Interestingly, our source tells us that ZeniMax had been toying with ideas for multiplayer side content away from the combat that would put the traversal system to good use, included races and obstacle courses. One mode the team had been toying with was like a blend of basketball and Quidditch. Our source says, "There was a ball to dunk into a ring, and you could pass or shoot," offering an experience that felt a little like Titanfall 2, although not as fast.
The multiplayer elements and co-op gameplay would have opened up to players after they had completed the tutorial, and could experience everything the game had to offer with friends, or alone if that's what they prefer. Much like ESO, power scaling would have let players play together regardless of their level or skill, while Amps would have opened cooperative synergy.
Project Blackbird was one of many casualties in Microsoft's latest cuts
Sadly, despite offering some promising ideas that I would have loved to have seen in action, Project Blackbird has been "indefinitely shelved" at ZeniMax. It comes as part of Microsoft's latest round of layoffs, which has affected 9,000 employees, including those within the Xbox gaming division.Some studios appear to have been hit harder than others, with reports suggesting that Forza Motorsport developer Turn 10 has lost nearly 50% of its team and Candy Crush maker King has also reportedly lost around 10% of its employees.
The Initiative, the studio working on the Perfect Dark reboot, has been closed down entirely, and the game shelved. Rare's long-troubled Everwild has also been canceled amid the layoffs, and both ZeniMax studio head Matt Firor and Sea of Thieves director Gregg Mayles have left Microsoft.
It's been a hideous week for the industry, even more so for those affected by Microsoft's latest cuts. From what we can gather, the game cancellations came as a surprise to the teams. In fact, our source tells us that up until July 2, 2025, when Microsoft announced the layoffs, the ZeniMax Online Studios employees working on Project Blackbird had no reason to think the game would be shelved.
In fact, ZeniMax had taken a demo build to Microsoft's Redmond office in October 2024, and our source says the team had seen "good things coming out of that," so Microsoft leadership was impressed with the game.
In a development release review meeting that took place in late June, ZeniMax leadership were not expecting for Microsoft to shelve the game. In fact, the team was preparing to ramp up development after several years in pre-production and was in the process of executing a $300,000 purchase order for hardware when the news came that the game wouldn't be going ahead.
After several years in pre-production, ZeniMax was preparing to enter full production this October. Initially, the team was aiming for a two-year development window with a late 2027 release, but our source says the release window had moved to late 2028.
Employees at ZeniMax received a Teams invite after Phil Spencer's announcement about the layoff, just five minutes before the meeting started on July 2, where they found out that Blackbird wouldn't be going ahead. Staff were already on edge when the meeting started, as ZeniMax studio head Matt Firor was noticeably missing. Instead, Firor's successor, Joe Burba, led the meeting.
Firor "never shied away from delivering the bad news," according to our source, and "was an honest and earnest person," so the team already felt that something might be wrong when the meeting started.
With 9,000 employees working for Microsoft having lost their jobs, three upcoming Game Pass games canceled, and two seasoned members having left the company, it's a devastating blow for Xbox's studios. Project Blackbird had a lot of potential, and it would have been great to see ZeniMax tread new waters after 11 years with the fantastic Elder Scrolls Online.
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