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 massacre, and in line with a brand new report, Xbox boss Phil Spencer was a giant fan of the sport.
In keeping with Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier, there was a gathering in March the place Spencer had the prospect to go arms on with ZeniMax’s new sport, codenamed Blackbird, and he had a lot enjoyable that Xbox head Matt Booty had to remove his controller so the assembly may proceed.
Blackbird was reportedly an internet looter shooter vaguely just like Future, besides with extra of a concentrate on vertical exploration. In keeping with 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 may use to toss themselves round skyscrapers.
Regardless of Spencer and different Xbox executives reportedly being extraordinarily impressed by Blackbird, it finally wasn’t sufficient to put it aside. ZeniMax employees 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 employees, or round 4% of its complete workforce. Together with Blackbird’s cancelation, Uncommon’s action-adventure sport Everwild and Xbox’s Good Darkish reboot have been canceled. Good Darkish studio The Initiative was shuttered solely and Forza studio Flip 10 misplaced about 50% of its employees.
