Near the beginning of July, Microsoft unleashed a new round of layoffs and game cancellations, including Project Blackbird, an action-RPG MMO from The Elder Scrolls Online team at ZeniMax. Now, a report has shared several previously unknown details about Project Blackbird and its story, which will likely never be finished.
True Achievements has posted an in-depth report about Project Blackbird, which sounds like it would have incorporated elements from Cyberpunk 2077, Destiny, and Warframe. Players would have assumed the role of a fully customizable human cyborg known as a Revenant. The game was set on a remote world called Soteria in a floating capital megacity called Exodus that was ruled by a sentient AI called PAN. It would have also featured five different alien syndicates to contend with, as well as numerous other species from across the galaxy.
The game’s primary story had noirish overtones as PAN tasks the player’s character to solve the murder of a high-profile figure in Exodus. PAN would also give players numerous side missions to keep the peace in Exodus without letting any of the alien syndicates overpower the rest. The syndicates themselves would also offer players assignments that furthered their goals within the power struggle to control Exodus.
Project Blackbird was intended to have live-service elements, PvP, shared-world elements, and co-op gameplay that let players team up. However, the game never entered full development after a lengthy period of early development shaped the game and its world. The decision was reportedly made by Microsoft to abandon the in-progress title rather than ramp up its resources and push it towards a projected 2027 or 2028 release.
This game wasn’t the only casualty of Microsoft’s cuts. Rare’s Everwild and the Perfect Dark reboot were both canceled during the last round of layoffs.
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