Project Blackbird, the working title for an upcoming MMORPG from ZeniMax Online Studios, has reportedly been canceled as parent company Microsoft announces sweeping layoffs across several of its brands. ZeniMax Online Studios has provided additional work on Fallout 76 and Doom (2016), but it is probably best known as the developer of The Elder Scrolls Online, another fantasy MMORPG set in the world of Nirn.
The Elder Scrolls Online was officially unveiled in May 2012, six months after the release of Skyrim, and it launched nearly two years later, in April 2014. More than a decade since its release, the game is still seeing daily player counts of more than 88,000, and while it hasn’t reached the same level of critical success as the franchise’s more recent single-player games, it has shown surprising longevity.
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After that success, ZeniMax Online Studios had apparently been working on another MMORPG, but new reports are indicating that it has been canceled before even being officially revealed or given a proper title. According to game journalist Jason Schreier, relaying information from Bloomberg and actively covering the significant layoffs at Microsoft-owned studios happening today, Project Blackbird had been in development since 2018, roughly four years after the launch of The Elder Scrolls Online. Microsoft does not appear to have officially confirmed any of this information, but it comes amid a flood of reports about other canceled projects and the eventual laying off of up to 9,000 workers at development studios owned by Microsoft, which equates to roughly one in every 25 members of the company’s workforce.
Microsoft Reportedly Shutting Down MMORPG After Seven Years in Development
BREAKING: The new MMORPG project from Zenimax Online Studios, maker of Elder Scrolls Online, has been canceled as part of the Xbox layoffs, sources tell Bloomberg News. The project, code-named Blackbird, had been in development since 2018. Still more news to come this morning.
— Jason Schreier (@jasonschreier.bsky.social) 2025-07-02T15:05:30.540Z
Project Blackbird isn’t the only upcoming game at Microsoft that is said to be getting the axe ahead of its release. Reports also show that action-adventure game Everwild has been canceled after it was first announced to be in development at Rare more than five years ago, and after more than a decade in development. This news was particularly surprising, as Microsoft had released a promising report regarding the progress of the game just over a month ago and even featured it during the Xbox Games Showcase on June 8. The Initiative and Crystal Dynamics’ Perfect Dark has also reportedly been canceled.
While it won’t necessarily lead to the complete shutdown of their games in development, the layoffs appear to be heavily affecting plenty of other studios under the Microsoft banner as well. Reports indicate that many studios working on Call of Duty games are being hit hard, as is Forza Motorsport series developer Turn 10, which Schreier reports is about to lose about half of its staff. This comes about a week after news that Turn 10 was bracing for layoffs, which was originally reported by Tom Warren of The Verge.