An unannounced Destiny-style MMO shooter previously in development at Elder Scrolls Online studio ZeniMax Online was canceled this week as part of Microsoft’s layoff bloodbath, and according to a new report, Xbox boss Phil Spencer was a big fan of the game.
According to Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier, there was a meeting in March where Spencer had the chance to go hands on with ZeniMax’s new game, codenamed Blackbird, and he had so much fun that Xbox head Matt Booty had to take away his controller so the meeting could continue.
Blackbird was reportedly an online looter shooter vaguely similar to Destiny, except with more of a focus on vertical exploration. According to Schreier, it had something of a Blade Runner, sci-fi noir aesthetic and abilities like wall climbing, double jumping, wall climbing, and a grappling hook players could use to toss themselves around skyscrapers.
Despite Spencer and other Xbox executives reportedly being extremely impressed by Blackbird, it ultimately wasn’t enough to save it. ZeniMax staff reportedly weren’t given an explanation for its cancelation, and longtime studio director Matt Firor departed the studio the same day.
This week’s Microsoft layoffs impacted about 9,000 workers, or around 4% of its total workforce. Along with Blackbird’s cancelation, Rare’s action-adventure game Everwild and Xbox’s Perfect Dark reboot were canceled. Perfect Dark studio The Initiative was shuttered entirely and Forza studio Turn 10 lost about 50% of its staff.
