More details about the canceled ZeniMax Online game have appeared in a Bloomberg report, including that Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer had played it and loved it as recently as March. Here’s the direct quote:

But Blackbird’s cancellation was particularly shocking because it had blown away executives at Xbox just a few months ago. During the demonstration in March, Spencer was enjoying the game so much that Matt Booty, the head of Xbox Game Studios, had to pull the controller away so they could keep the meeting going, according to two people who were in the room.

One of Phil Spencer’s most endearing traits to gamers is that he is a well-known gamer himself. He has previously admitted to playing many online games, from Diablo IV to Fallout 76 and even ZeniMax Online’s own The Elder Scrolls Online.

So, why was the game canceled? The report sheds no light on the specifics, leaving everything to speculation. If it’s true that Phil Spencer himself had enjoyed his time with the game, it appears very likely that financial considerations – perhaps mandated from above – led to this outcome.

It’s a shame, though, based on the details provided by Bloomberg. There were reportedly some challenges early on with the new engine, but those appeared to have been surpassed by now, and there were 300 developers on the project. They delivered the vertical slice in March to move to full production and tentatively ship the game (once codenamed Kestrel, later renamed to Blackbird) in 2028.

The game was reportedly a third-person online shooter not unlike Destiny (except for the different camera perspective). The setting was sci-fi with a flair of noir, and it put a big emphasis on movement, with player characters able to double jump, dash in the air, use a grappling hook, and even wall climb in superhero-like fashion.

Even the Bloomberg reporter, Jason Schreier, saw footage of the vertical slice and claimed to be impressed. This lends credence to the statement shared by Alex Tardif, former Lead Graphics Programmer at ZeniMax Online Studios, who said the game was heading in a great direction. Needless to say, it all makes it even more weird that a company as flush as Microsoft would cancel a game that its own Gaming CEO, Phil Spencer, had appreciated, only because it would have been expensive to produce. It sounds like no project is ever truly safe from the axe at this point.