Laid-off devs of cancelled ZeniMax MMO Project Blackbird form new studio 'with no outside investors and full creative control,' and they're calling it Sackbird

(Image credit: Sackbird Studios)

A few months ago we found out ZeniMax Online Studios had canceled an MMO shooter it was developing under the codename Project Blackbird, one that had been in development since 2018 and executives apparently enjoyed playing. Turns out, even having Phil Spencer like your game can't save you from Microsoft's recent slash-and-burn approach to its own projects and staff.

Some of the laid-off developers behind Project Blackbird have now announced the formation of a new studio, cheekily named Sackbird. Get it? "With no outside investors and full creative control, the team is focused on building great games—on their own terms", as the announcement puts it.

"After years in AAA, we wanted the freedom to take smart risks without waiting for a greenlight or chasing quarterly targets," said David Worley, Sackbird Studios' COO. "We're fully employee-owned and funded, which means we only answer to people who are passionate about games."

The 10 founding members of Sackbird include developers who were working on Project Blackbird as well as "former leads and key contributors" from The Elder Scrolls Online. As well as being employee-owned and self-funded, they describe the studio's focus as including "creative control" and "sustainable development".

"We're grateful for our time at ZeniMax Online Studios; it shaped us as developers and as people," said Lee Ridout, Sackbird's CEO. "When I learned that Blackbird was being cancelled and a lot of people were losing their jobs, it lit a fire. We realized the best way to protect our craft—and our team—was to create a studio where creative independence isn't negotiable."

Sackbird Studios isn't ready to announce a game to go with this manifesto, but is apparently in "active development" on something that will be coming to PC and console. While Project Blackbird was described as a Destiny-style MMO shooter, it's tough to imagine a smaller team that says it has "No mandate to chase trends" making one of those.

Jody's first computer was a Commodore 64, so he remembers having to use a code wheel to play Pool of Radiance. A former music journalist who interviewed everyone from Giorgio Moroder to Trent Reznor, Jody also co-hosted Australia's first radio show about videogames, Zed Games. He's written for Rock Paper Shotgun, The Big Issue, GamesRadar, Zam, Glixel, Five Out of Ten Magazine, and Playboy.com, whose cheques with the bunny logo made for fun conversations at the bank. Jody's first article for PC Gamer was about the audio of Alien Isolation, published in 2015, and since then he's written about why Silent Hill belongs on PC, why Recettear: An Item Shop's Tale is the best fantasy shopkeeper tycoon game, and how weird Lost Ark can get. Jody edited PC Gamer Indie from 2017 to 2018, and he eventually lived up to his promise to play every Warhammer videogame.

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