A new report says Xbox has canceled ZeniMax Online’s MMO project ‘Blackbird,’ which had been in development since 2018, following major layoffs across Microsoft’s gaming teams.
Microsoft’s gaming division is having a rough day. Earlier today, the company confirmed a massive round of layoffs across multiple teams, including Xbox, ZeniMax, and King. Nearly 9,000 employees have been impacted across the company worldwide, with many of those cuts affecting teams under the Xbox banner.
Soon after, we learned that Everwild, a project from Rare, had been canceled as part of these cuts. And now, another long-running project has reportedly been shut down, this one from ZeniMax Online Studios.
Xbox Reportedly Cancels ZeniMax MMO ‘Blackbird’
According to a report from Jason Schreier of Bloomberg, Microsoft has canceled an MMO from ZeniMax Online Studios. The game, code-named Blackbird, had been in development since 2018.
Schreier shared the update in a post on Bluesky, citing sources familiar with the matter. ZeniMax Online is best known for The Elder Scrolls Online, a successful MMORPG that continues to receive updates over a decade after its release. Blackbird would’ve been the studio’s next big online project, but now, it looks like it won’t see the light of day.
“The new MMORPG project from Zenimax Online Studios, maker of Elder Scrolls Online, has been canceled as part of the Xbox layoffs,” Schreier wrote in a post on Bluesky. “The project, code-named Blackbird, had been in development since 2018.”
At the time of writing, ZeniMax Online has not released a public statement regarding Blackbird or the status of its team. It’s unclear how far along the project was or how many developers were affected.
With two game cancellations now confirmed and layoffs continuing to ripple through Xbox’s studios, it’s been a tough start to July for Microsoft’s gaming teams.
What are your thoughts on Blackbird being canceled after seven years? Let us know in the comments.
