Matt Firor, founder of ZeniMax Online, described Xbox's cancellation of the MMO Project Blackbird in July 2025 as a missed opportunity. In an interview, he explained that the game, a science fiction noir shooter, already had a playable and fun preliminary version, but senior executives considered it too risky in a context of mass layoffs.
The technical bet no one wanted to fund 🎮
The project required a significant initial investment in a new graphics engine designed to facilitate long-term content updates. This technical decision, although logical for an MMO, clashed with the vision of Microsoft, Xbox, and Bethesda. In a time of industry uncertainty, they preferred not to take the risk of developing proprietary technology from scratch, opting to cancel a title that promised to stand out from the rest.
Fun gameplay couldn't beat the spreadsheet 😤
It seems that having a playable and fun version is not enough when the numbers don't add up on a spreadsheet. Meanwhile, players are left longing to see a noir shooter with an MMO soul. But no worries: surely the next Xbox announcement will be another remake or a generic open-world game. Innovation, that word so annoying to executives!