<ul data-eligibleForWebStory="false"><li>A new MMO project from the developers of Elder Scrolls Online, known as Blackbird, was reportedly a sci-fi noir game with elements of swinging around buildings on grappling lines and aerial dashes while shooting and looting.</li><li>The project, previously codenamed Kestrel, had been in development since 2018 as a third-person shooter with looting aspects and a focus on vertical movement like grapples, double-jumps, aerial dashes, and wall-climbing.</li><li>Despite positive feedback from Xbox executives in March 2025, the project was suddenly shelved and the studio head, Matt Firor, left, leading to impending layoffs for many employees as part of wider company restructuring.</li><li>The layoffs at ZeniMax Online Studios, a subsidiary of Microsoft, raise questions given Microsoft's recent profitability, but reflect challenges in the live service gaming industry, with competition and project complexities cited as contributing factors.</li></ul>

The Elder Scrolls Online studio's canned Blackbird game was a nimble, high-flying shooter, claims report

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