An unannounced Future-style MMO shooter beforehand in growth at Elder Scrolls On-line studio ZeniMax On-line was canceled this week as a part of Microsoft’s layoff massacreand in keeping with a brand new report, Xbox boss Phil Spencer was a giant fan of the sport.
In response to Bloomberg’s Jason Schreierthere was a gathering in March the place Spencer had the possibility to go fingers on with ZeniMax’s new recreation, codenamed Blackbird, and he had a lot enjoyable that Xbox head Matt Booty had to remove his controller so the assembly might proceed.
Blackbird was reportedly an internet looter shooter vaguely just like Future, besides with extra of a deal with vertical exploration. In response to Schreier, it had one thing of a Blade Runner, sci-fi noir aesthetic and talents like wall climbing, double leaping, wall climbing, and a grappling hook gamers might use to toss themselves round skyscrapers.
Regardless of Spencer and different Xbox executives reportedly being extraordinarily impressed by Blackbird, it in the end wasn’t sufficient to put it aside. ZeniMax workers reportedly weren’t given an evidence for its cancelation, and longtime studio director Matt Firor departed the studio the identical day.
This week’s Microsoft layoffs impacted about 9,000 staff, or round 4% of its complete workforce. Together with Blackbird’s cancelation, Uncommon’s action-adventure recreation Everwild and Xbox’s Excellent Darkish reboot had been canceled. Excellent Darkish studio The Initiative was shuttered fully and Forza studio Flip 10 misplaced about 50% of its workers.
