Among the games that Microsoft decided to cancel was a new MMORPG in development by the folks at Zenimax Online, known internally only as the codename Blackbird, in production since 2018.
Journalist Jason Schreier shared an article to reveal more details about Blackbird, and revealed something quite curious: Phil Spencer was impressed with the MMORPG.
The game impressed Xbox executives, including Microsoft’s gaming CEO Phil Spencer, during a demo in March 2025. Spencer liked it so much that Xbox Game Studios head Matt Booty had to interrupt him to continue a meeting.
“Blackbird’s cancellation was particularly shocking because the game had impressed Xbox executives just a few months earlier. During a demo in March, Phil Spencer was enjoying the game so much that Matt Booty, the head of Xbox Game Studios, had to take the controller out of his hands so the meeting could continue, according to two people who were in the room.”
Jason Schreier states that Blackbird was a third-person shooter MMORPG with a sci-fi noir aesthetic, being quite similar to Destiny, and vertical movement mechanics, such as double jumping, air dashing, grappling hook and wall climbing.
For those who don’t know, Phil Spencer is a huge Destiny fan, so perhaps that’s why he was impressed when he tried out ZeniMax’s MMORPG.
