LogInWas it to shift resources to Fallout 5 or just to cut costs and make the year-end financial report look prettier?
Akin to ripples that continue to disturb the water surface long after the stone that gave them birth has sunk, the gargantuan layoffs that took place at Xbox two weeks ago continue to stir questions within the gaming community – both about the reasons behind them and what the course of action for the affected studios is goind forward.
One of those studios is Bethesda – or more precisely, its sister company ZeniMax Online Studios – whose unannounced MMO known as Blackbird was shut down amidst the firings. Recently, it's become clear that Blackbird's cancellation is more intriguing than it first appeared, with two well-known insiders offering vastly different accounts of why The Elder Scrolls Online developer's new title was unceremoniously thrown into the Iliac Bay with a rock tied to its ankles.
Bethesda
The first of those insiders is Jez Corden, who addressed the Blackbird MMO in the latest episode of the Xbox Two Podcast. According to Corden, from what he's heard, what ultimately sealed Blackbird's fate was Microsoft's decision to avoid competing with established MMO giants – including The Elder Scrolls Online – and to steer clear of pouring truckloads of money into a risky new venture, opting instead to focus on proven IPs within ZeniMax Media.
With Amazon's Fallout TV series disappointing many of the series' old-school fans but nonetheless finding a huge new audience, it was only natural for the studio to shift focus to that franchise, and as stated by Jez, he believes Fallout 5 will be the next game in the series and is expected to ship sometime in 2033, though it remains unclear which specific team will be working on it.
"From what I heard, it was a case of tradeoffs and that the program to expand Fallout 5, and just Fallout in general, that's where they've decided to make the investments and where the money will be translated into more of a surefire win," he commented.
Interestingly, another industry insider, Bloomberg's Jason Schreier, disagreed with Corden's assessment, claiming that the reason for Blackbird's cancellation was far less noble.
In a comment on ResetEra, he stated that Xbox "didn't lay off thousands of people so they could move those resources to new projects" but instead to "cut their overall fiscal year budget." This, in turn, could suggest that Microsoft's gaming division may be dealing with financial issues and is now focused on saving money rather than reallocating it – a somewhat understandable move in light of Microsoft's recent financial failures like Avowed, South of Midnight, and Indiana Jones and the Great Circle.
So, what's your take on the shutdown of Blackbird? Are you Team Corden or Team Schreier on that issue? Are both journalists just talking rubbish and completely in the dark about the situation? Let us know what you think down in the comments!
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