Xbox bosses loved a game so much they canned it and sacked all the developers

Microsoft’s cull of 9,000 jobs has led to multiple cancelled projects, and one of them has been called ‘incredible’ by those that played it.

Perfect Dark, Everwild, and an untitled game from John Romero are just some of the projects which have been cancelled in the wake of Microsoft’s latest round of sweeping job cuts.

There’s a chance more games have been impacted which haven’t yet been detailed (a new Banjo-Kazooie is also rumoured to have been canned) but various reports have highlighted one title in particular as one of the biggest casualties, and no one can understand why it’s been canned.

The unannounced game in question was being developed by ZeniMax Online Studios, the creators of The Elder Scrolls Online, and is believed to have been so ‘spectacular’, Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer had to have the controller taken off him during a meeting.

Details around the project emerged this week via Xbox insider SneakerSO on NeoGaf, who claimed the cancelled title, codenamed Blackbird, was ‘f***ing incredible’ and ‘had some of the best reactions from folks who played it’ for a multiplayer-orientated game following a playtest.

‘It takes an absolute truck load to have folks heap praise on an multiplayer playtest in modern times,’ they wrote in a thread about the layoffs. ‘This game would’ve been spectacular.’

They added: ‘This is one of the cancelled games that, by literally every account, sounded like it would’ve been a slam dunk in literally every sense.’

These comments were corroborated and elaborated on by Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier. He describes Blackbird as a ‘third person, online looter shooter’ in a similar vein to Destiny, with a sci-fi noir aesthetic similar to Blade Runner. The key selling point was apparently its ‘heavy emphasis on vertical movement’, where you use a grappling hook and air-dashing to swing around tall buildings.

According to the report, Blackbird had ‘blown away’ Xbox executives during a demonstration in March this year. According to two people who were in the room at the time, it’s said Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer was ‘enjoying the game so much’ that head of Xbox Studios, Matt Booty, had to ‘pull the controller away so they could keep the meeting going’.

It’s claimed Blackbird’s cancellation caused ZeniMax Online Studios boss Matt Firor to ‘immediately’ hand in his resignation, with his departure confirmed in a note from the studio on Wednesday, July 2. Jo Burba is set to takeover as the new studio head.

While no explanation has been given for Blackbird’s cancellation, it’s been described as an expensive project. Considering the amount of live service games which have flopped over the past few years too, Xbox may have seen it as a risky endeavour.

According to IGN, Blackbird, which was slated for release in 2028, had been in development since 2018. ZeniMax Online Studios was building a brand new engine for the game, hence the lengthy development, but it’s claimed the team was ‘actively ramping up’ in the hope of ‘moving into full production soon’.

It’s claimed Xbox had approved this increase in manpower, as people were being moved from The Elder Scrolls Online team to work on Blackbird, along with those who had been absorbed into the studio from last year’s closure of Arkane Austin.

According to reports, the entire team behind Blackbird has been cut, as part of several hundred layoffs at the US-based studio.

GameCentral has reached out to Xbox for comment.

ZeniMax Online Studios, a subsidiary of ZeniMax Media, was acquired by Microsoft as part of a $7.5 billion deal in March 2021. While the studio is primarily known for The Elder Scrolls Online, it also contributed to 2016’s Doom and Fallout 76.

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