There was a whole lot of carnage this week at Xbox after Microsoft laid off over 9000 workers throughout its many divisions. Individuals misplaced their jobs and a few of Xbox Sport Studios’ upcoming tasks have been canned. This included high-profile video games like the Good Darkish reboot and Uncommon’s new action-adventure recreation Everwild, however it additionally included a recreation we had by no means truly heard about till it was already gone. The Elder Scrolls On-line workforce over at ZeniMax On-line Studios was engaged on a brand new MMORPG codenamed “Blackbird,” and the primary time many of the public was made conscious of it was when it was canceled.
A brand new story from Bloomberg outlines the inhumane limbo a number of Microsoft workers have been coping with throughout this layoff course of, which left a number of folks ready for hours, if not a full day to search out out the standing of their jobs and tasks. It additionally has just a few particulars about Blackbird, and it seems like Microsoft Gaming Chief Government Officer Phil Spencer actually loved what he performed of it earlier this 12 months. In line with Bloomberg’s sources, Spencer was so enamored with the sport when he performed it in March that Head of Xbox Sport Studios Matt Booty needed to bodily take the controller from him so they might proceed a gathering. All this reward from the powers that be made it a shock for the workforce when the sport was abruptly canceled throughout Microsoft’s culling of its workforce.
Whereas it’s unclear if the general public will ever see this recreation in movement, Bloomberg describes it as a third-person looter-shooter akin to Future, however set inside a brand new world with a “sci-fi, noir aesthetic” much like that of Blade Runner. Bloomberg noticed footage of the sport and stated it “positioned a heavy emphasis on vertical motion,” with a whole lot of motion skills like air-dashing, utilizing a grappling hook, and wall-climbing to maneuver throughout buildings.
Xbox’s inner studios have suffered throughout these cuts, however a few of the firm’s exterior companions have as properly. Legendary Doom designer John Romero’s subsequent venture misplaced all its funding, forcing him to shut down his studio, Romero Video games.
