Also, that's an remarkably scathing interview for current named employees. No way they could do that without a union.

Also also, the game they inexplicably canned well into development sounds awesome: https://www.trueachievements.com/news/canceled-xbox-mmo-project-blackbird

Traversal was a core aspect of the game, with Exodus offering a vertical playground for players to explore, equipping players with a grappling hook, and, according to our source, you'd have been able to "climb and wall-run on any surface." The team wanted movement to feel natural and fun, similar to that found in games like Spider-Man and the driving in GTA.

Interestingly, our source tells us that ZeniMax had been toying with ideas for multiplayer side content away from the combat that would put the traversal system to good use, included races and obstacle courses. One mode the team had been toying with was like a blend of basketball and Quidditch. Our source says, "There was a ball to dunk into a ring, and you could pass or shoot," offering an experience that felt a little like Titanfall 2, although not as fast.

Maybe the setting was a little too anti-corpo for Microsoft?

In fact, our source tells us that up until July 2, 2025, when Microsoft announced the layoffs, the ZeniMax Online Studios employees working on Project Blackbird had no reason to think the game would be shelved. In fact, ZeniMax had taken a demo build to Microsoft's Redmond office in October 2024, and our source says the team had seen "good things coming out of that," so Microsoft leadership was impressed with the game. In a development release review meeting that took place in late June, ZeniMax leadership were not expecting for Microsoft to shelve the game. In fact, the team was preparing to ramp up development after several years in pre-production and was in the process of executing a $300,000 purchase order for hardware when the news came that the game wouldn't be going ahead. After several years in pre-production, ZeniMax was preparing to enter full production this October. Initially, the team was aiming for a two-year development window with a late 2027 release, but our source says the release window had moved to late 2028.