According to Wccftech, former ZeniMax Online Studios founder and studio head Matt Firor confirmed in a LinkedIn post that the cancellation of “Project Blackbird” directly caused his resignation. The project, a new sci-fi IP, had been in development for over seven years and had a team of around 200 developers assigned to it by November 2022. Its cancellation was part of Microsoft’s layoffs in 2024, which were intended to fund AI investments. Firor revealed he is not formally leading any of the new studios formed by laid-off team members, though he is advising some informally. The game was described as a cooperative third-person online shooter for 4-6 players set on a unique exoplanet called Soteria.
The dream game that got away
Here’s the thing about “Project Blackbird”: it wasn’t just another cancelled project. For Matt Firor, a veteran whose career includes Dark Age of Camelot and shepherding The Elder Scrolls Online, this was the game. The one you wait your whole career to make. And having the plug pulled after seven years of work? That’s not just a business decision. That’s a heartbreaker. It’s the kind of event that makes a founder and studio head look at their situation and say, “I can’t do this anymore.” His post makes it painfully clear his loyalty was first to his team—many of whom he’d worked with for over two decades—and to the game itself.
Why this cancellation hurt more
Usually, when a game gets axed, you hear whispers about development hell, ballooning budgets, or a lack of vision. But the reports on Blackbird tell a completely different story. This game was good. Like, “Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer enjoyed a playtest so much they had to literally pry the controller from his hands” good. Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier saw a vertical slice and was impressed. The lead graphics programmer publicly stated it was morphing into something promising. So we’re not talking about a doomed project. We’re talking about a promising, nearly complete game with a compelling “sci-fi noir” premise, killed for corporate spreadsheet reasons—to shift funds into AI. That’s gotta sting for every single person on that team.
What was Project Blackbird?
Based on the details that have surfaced, this wasn’t a generic shooter. The setting on Soteria, a tidally locked planet with a frozen side, a scorched side, and a habitable “Twilight Band,” is a fantastic sci-fi hook. Playing as “Revenants” doing contracts for alien syndicates? A 4-6 player cooperative structure? It sounds like it was aiming for a sweet spot between deep, progression-driven MMOs and more accessible co-op action. Basically, it had a real identity. And in a market saturated with live-service games that feel focus-tested into blandness, that unique pitch is what makes its cancellation such a loss for players. We’ll never get to explore that world now.
The aftermath and a new hope
So what happens next? Firor is now just another player in the ESO community, which he says is “refreshing and fun.” But the talented team he left behind isn’t sitting still. Some have formed Sackbird Studios to start anew. Firor says he’s informally advising some of these efforts but isn’t leading them. That’s probably for the best. A fresh start, unshackled from corporate mandates, might be exactly what that creative energy needs. The real tragedy of Blackbird isn’t just one studio head’s resignation. It’s the dissolution of a veteran team and a unique vision. But the silver lining? That talent and that vision haven’t vanished. They’ve just moved to a new garage. And I, for one, can’t wait to see what they build next.
