The cancellation of 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Zenimax’s next MMO, codenamed “Blackbirཧd”, is terrible news for fans of the genre. While we understandably shouldn’t get excited about any game, let alone an MMO we haven’t seen actual concrete gameplay of, I still had high hopes for Blackbird.
It came with the promise of a new Western MMO from an experienced triple-A studio. It also had the backing of Microsoft and Xbox at𒀰 a time when it seemed keen to make a significant impact, truly fighting tooth and nail to win back the trust of consꦕumers.
That turned out well.
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Dune: Awakening had a suprisingly smooth launch.
The Downfall of Zenimax
Zenimax, for those unaware, is the studio behind 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Elder Scrolls Online. An aged albeit still enjoyable MMO that has received frequent content updates and🍷 expansions as recently as 2025’s Season Of The Worm. Microsoft acquired Zenimax and its subsidiary studios for a staggering $7.5 billion in 2020, although the final costs spiraled to over $8.1 billion following some preliminary lawsuits.
The takeover came at a time of♋ heavy investment in the video game industry, somewhat exacerbated by the inordinate growth due to COVID. While most industries suffered, video games thrived: everyone was indoors, of course. We’ve seen many studios suffer from over-expansion during the pandemic, including other massive names like Bungie.
In 2024, a mere three years after Microsoft acquired Zenimax, it shuttered three studios: 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Arkane Austin, Alpha Dog Games, and 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Tango Gameworks, and merged a fourth, Roundhouse Games, into existing studios. Both Arkane Austin and Tango Gameworks were particularly hard to fathom, considering Arkane Austin’s well-respected work on the Dishonored series and Tango Gameworks’ critical🃏 darling Hi-Fi Rush.
After all tꦉhis, I suppose we could see the writing on thꦕe wall: no studio was safe.
Project Blackbird
Just recently, it was announced that Zenimax’s new MMO that it had been working on for several years and had even shown off to Microsoft executives in a private playtest earlier this year, was to be cancelled. Apparently even 𝔍Phil Spencer himself had tried the game and couldn’t 🍒put it down. Whether we can verifiably trust the accounts of private p🌊laytesters or not, most people who got a chance to see and play the game were very iꦯmpressed.
It was an FPS MMO in the style of Destiny, built in a brand-new sci-fi world called Soteria. Details are understaꦐndably a little sparse considering we never got any official documentation about the game, but since it’s now been cancelled, some insiders have been able ꦛto give us a little more detail about what Blackbird was all about.
According to a from , Project Blackbird “was a blend of Destiny, 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Blade Runner, and 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Horizon Zero Dawn.” It was to have a “faction system similar to Bethesda Game Studios' RPGs”, where gameplay revolved around building a relationship with different factions by completing a variety of content with up to either four or six players at once. Basically mini-raids, similar to Destiny or Warframe.
According to sources, there were also plans for a “housing system, daily login rewards, and P🐓vP” although core gameplay was going to focus on co-op action and “shared world elements.” Unfortunately, we might never get to actually see what that was all about. We do have some hints about the different races in the game, though, including🍰 the Nemocytes, a strange aquatic species that wore exosuits to survive the atmosphere on the planet.
All in all, Project Blackbird sounded like it could’ve been a seriously impressive game, the sort of generational title that comes around once in a blue moon, particularly for MMOs. While that might sound like a bit 𝔍of hyperbole, it’s the sort of blind-eyed enthusiasm I have for a new triple-A MMO that has warped my perception. I am, like many others, just desperate for something. I can’t believe Microsoft has canceled a project so deep into production when everyone is clawing for something fresh.
I'm Not Sure Why No One Is Talking About This Promising Upcoming MMO
Apogea looks very interesting if you're into ol๊d-school MMOs.
