Zenimax Online Studios may have a big MMO looming in the future – or maybe not.
Timur222 shared this information from a LinkedIn profile on Twitter:
Under “Animation Director- Unannounced Title” it says unannounced next-gen MMO
While under Animation Director- Elder Scrolls Online, Unannounced AAA IP it says next-gen AAA action/RPG
Not sure if this is the same game from ZeniMax Online
Trying To Make Sense Of What This Game Is
Let’s run down what the profile says.
Under the Heading Animation Director- Elder Scrolls Online, Unannounced AAA IP, it says the employee worked at Zenimax for a total of 11 years and 5 months. It also says they started on April 2014, and they are also working here at the present.
Under the Heading Animation Director- Unannounced AAA IP, it says that they worked on this project from 2018 to July 2025, for a total of 7 years and 7 months.
Finally, Under the Heading Animation Director- Elder Scrolls Online, it once again says the employee started at April 2014, and they worked at this game from April 2014 to July 2025, for a total of 11 years and 4 months.
Our interpretation is that this profile only mentions two games. The unannounced AAA IP was cancelled last month. This employee happens to have also stopped working on Elder Scrolls Online in the last month. They are still in Zenimax now, but whatever they are working on can’t even be brought up on LinkedIn.
Was This “Unannounced Next-Gen MMO” Blackbird?
The rumor about the cancelled MMO Blackbird came from Jason Schreier. Microsoft never commented on this cancellation to either confirm or debunk it.
In fact, they chose to keep quiet about the layoffs and how it affected their video game studios in general. But what we know seems to line up. Schreier also claimed that Blackbird was in development for seven years.
There’s Still A Lot We Don’t Know About Zenimax Online Studios Now
Microsoft and Zenimax did confirm one thing. Matt Firor, president of Zenimax Online Studios, stepped down on the same day. It’s clear now that no one at the studio was laid off since Blackbird was supposedly cancelled.
If this Blackbird MMO was promising, seven years would have still been a long time to have been working on it. Zenimax Online Studios started work on it in the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One era. At its current trajectory, it would have to be adjusted for the upcoming 10th console generation, and not the 9th generation as they probably expected.
There’s a real possibility Zenimax and Microsoft intervened to avoid another Redfall from happening. We won’t really know either way. This game that we only know from hearsay has also reportedly been canceled.
