A new MMORPG from the Elder Scrolls Online devs has reportedly been cancelled as part of Microsoft's layoffs

Update: Senior shaper confirms MMO's cancellation

Update: ZeniMax Online Studios elder shaper Chris Linn has confirmed the MMO's cancellation successful a station connected LinkedIn.

Meanwhile, pursuing quality of the cancellation, ZeniMax Online Studios person confirmed that president Matt Firor volition beryllium "stepping distant aboriginal this month". Firor had pb the workplace since their founding successful 2007, and volition beryllium replaced by caller workplace caput Jo Burba. Burba volition beryllium portion of a enactment squad that besides includes ESO enforcement shaper Susan Kath and crippled manager Rich Lambert.

"Together, this enactment squad has spearheaded galore of ESO's biggest ideas and expansions and volition proceed to marque this crippled thing we're each arrogant of..." reads a connection attributed to Firor posted to ZOS' Twitter, "There are galore much stories to beryllium told, adventures to beryllium had, and I cognize this astonishing assemblage volition transportation that shared bequest and occurrence forwards."

Original communicative follows:

Microsoft person reportedly cancelled an MMORPG that was successful the works astatine ZeniMax Online Studios, developers of The Elder Scrolls Online, arsenic portion of the company's wider layoffs.

This is according to a station from Bloomberg's Jason Schreier, which follows abstracted reports that the layoffs person seen the cancellation of Rare's Everwild. It precise overmuch looks similar a excavation of canned projects are accumulating astatine MS's feet arsenic portion of these cuts, though the institution are inactive yet to corroborate anything.

This ZeniMax Online Studios MMORPG was codenamed "Blackbird" and had been successful improvement since 2018, according to Schreier. It would person been the 2nd crippled ZOS has been main developer of since their founding successful 2007, the archetypal being Elder Scrolls Online, which has received regular updates and expansions successful the decennary and alteration since release.

While we've not seen oregon heard overmuch astir Blackbird implicit the years, ZeniMax Online Studios posted occupation applications seeking radical to enactment connected a caller motor for a caller crippled astir 2019.

"We've learned a batch bringing the satellite of The Elder Scrolls to life, and it's clip for america to instrumentality those lessons and physique a caller AAA IP," reads a careers leafage connected ZOS' website. "The imaginativeness for our adjacent crippled is expansive successful each consciousness of the word, and that's wherefore we're processing a caller motor to enactment the needs of the task and studio. Because we're successful aboriginal pre-production, this is the cleanable clip to articulation america and marque your people connected an unthinkable caller project."

If the reports are legit, it's bittersweet we'll ne'er get to spot what Blackbird could person evolved into. I've ne'er truly gotten that into ESO contempt loving an aged rotation of paper, simply due to the fact that I similar Elder Scrolls arsenic a azygous subordinate game. But overmuch similar its member from different parent Fallout 76, ESO has surely stuck astir for the agelong haul, evolving a batch implicit the years and establishing a loyal audience.

As overmuch arsenic the reported crippled cancellation sucks, though, it's evidently the radical being impacted by these layoffs that truly matter. "As 1 illustration of conscionable however sloppy and chaotic today's wide Xbox layoff has been," Schreier wrote successful a follow-up post, "some employees astatine Zenimax Online Studios are present watching their Slack accounts abruptly get locked out. No connection from HR, nary connection connected whether they inactive person a job, conscionable an ominous Slack deactivation."

Christ.