Microsoft has cancelled Zenimax Online Studios' new MMO project, codenamed Blackbird, as part of the ongoing layoffs, according to reports.
Despite Phil Spencer himself telling staff "our platform, hardware, and game roadmap have never looked stronger," the fourth big round of layoffs hitting Xbox studios in 18 months is coming. Reports have already emerged that Rare's Everwild has been cancelled as part of this process, and now reports have emerged that Zenimax Online Studios' next game has also joined that list.
Bloomberg's Jason Schrier posted on BlueSky, saying, "The new MMORPG project from Zenimax Online Studios, maker of Elder Scrolls Online, has been canceled as part of the Xbox layoffs," adding, "The project, code-named Blackbird, had been in development since 2018."
Schrier also reports that employees at Zenimax Online Studios have been locked out of their Slack accounts: "No message from HR, no word on whether they still have a job, just an ominous Slack deactivation." While unconfirmed, it appears that the studio may also face layoffs in addition to this cancellation.
"Jason Schreier is getting these updates almost faster than I, an impacted employee at Zenimax Online Studios, am," one dev writes, "which is creating a borderline slapstick layer to this experience."
Elder Scrolls Online was first released in 2014 and has had an expansion release every year since 2017. As for what's next for the MMO and the studio behind it, we'll continue to report on the situation as it unfolds.
There is, unfortunately, still more news to come out of Xbox Game Studios today.
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