The popular fantasy MMORPG The Elder Scrolls Online (ESO) has been running for a full 12 years now, and still enjoys new expansions and frequent content updates from developer ZeniMax Online Studios. In addition to supporting the long-running mass-multiplayer take on ZeniMax and Bethesda's legendary IP, though, the studio was also planning to release a new MMO codenamed Project Blackbird.
We know work on Blackbird began as early as 2018, with ZeniMax building a new engine for it. As of 2022, over 200 developers were working on the unannounced game; 300 were contributing to the project by March 2025, just a few months before Xbox canceled the game alongside Rare's Everwild and Perfect Dark, and shuttered its developer The Initiative as well.
