I’m beyond sad and will not be spending money on any franchise ran by Microsoft Xbox. ZOS’ team has

Bo0137

Today’s news are devastating for me. I’m beyond sad for these people at Zenimax.

I’ve said it in the past and will say it again: I will play anything this team makes. If they make a MMO about pigs wrestling in the mud, I will play that.

I came to ESO because of The Elder Scrolls IP. I stayed because this team managed to deliver the best experience I ever had in an online game.

I don’t know how exactly. But this team managed to create an environment that is extremely healthy, social and friendly.

I’ve played many MMOs in my life. ESO is by far the most passionate and heartfelt experience I’ve ever lived.

I am unsubbing my ESO Plus right now. I’ve been subbing since 2014, game’s launch. I am also not spending any cash into the game or any IP ran by Microsoft Xbox for the foreseeable future.

This will hurt me a lot because I truly love ESO and enjoy my time spent there.

Matt, team, I truly appreciate your work. Do not give up! I will try to follow you wherever you are. Wishing you strength in these challenging times.

Abelon

I have to say, you'd have to stop playing 99% of games altogether if you boycott every company that does layoffs. Leaving you with a handful of indie games. And there's still good people left who are working on those games, not everybody gets laid off after all. People who are passionate, people who care, just like Matt did. People who are part of that "team" you are talking about. It's not their fault that higher ups fire their colleagues and I don't think that they deserve some sort of punishment for it. Nor do I think that Matt and others would want ESO to die (but I don't claim to know what's going on in their minds right now). It's still completely your right of course.

MasterSpatula

I'm certainly not as big a fan of everything ZOS does as OP, but I work in a creative field. I've been on projects that were cancelled well before we were done telling our story, and it hurt like hell. The last project like that was five years ago, and I'm still both angry and sad about it.

But I'm fortunate enough that I've never worked on anything that got cancelled before the public ever got to see it. I can only imagine what the ZOS team is going through right now. In addition to worrying about paying the rent or mortgage, to pour your soul into something you truly believed would reach people and bring them joy only to see it buried? The thought gives me legitimate pain.

My sincerest condolences to the ZOS team. I'll raise a glass to you in compassion and in solidarity.

Elsonso

There are a lot of people at ZOS that are still working on Elder Scrolls Online. I don't know if everyone on the ESO team made it through the day, or whether anyone working on "Blackbird" managed to get moved over (or back) to ESO. Hopefully, yes to both.

If someone is inclined to buy ESO Plus, I would not change that because Microsoft laid off people, closed studios, and ended games.

Rungar

Elsonso wrote: »

There are a lot of people at ZOS that are still working on Elder Scrolls Online. I don't know if everyone on the ESO team made it through the day, or whether anyone working on "Blackbird" managed to get moved over (or back) to ESO. Hopefully, yes to both.

If someone is inclined to buy ESO Plus, I would not change that because Microsoft laid off people, closed studios, and ended games.

well a silver lining is that eso will become the focus again since thats all they have. so i wouldnt quit if you like it. Itll only hurt you.

Desiato

I'll share my perspective from 10ish years ago.

I'm what the industry used to call a core gamer. We basically kept the PC games industry afloat through hard times and made companies like id, bioware, ea, blizzard, etc the successes they were. Bethesda too. In the 2000s the industry understood this and loved us.

But things changed through the 2010s. Games became tv-level mainstream and a new audience became dominant. All of the sudden publishers didn't care about core gamers anymore.

ESO began development in 2007. Its target audience was core and hardcore gamers. Back then hardcore gamers weren't the target of ridicule they are today. They were respected. As ESO neared completion, ZOS targeted our audience in interviews. They talked about how ESO was going to be the ultimate MMO for my market. It would feature deep systems, doac-like pvp, challenging content and an aggressive content release schedule. Back then game devs used to say content is king.

But Skyrim happened and changed everything. It's one of the reason why eso's launch was so delayed. Still, just before launch, all of those things were promised to us. But on top of that, it also had to appeal to Skyrim fans. Though Skyrim was the 5th game in the series, it brought TES to a new audience and its sales dwarfed the rest of the series by a large margin.

It didn't work out. The sub model was failing across the industry and eso had a very bad launch. MMO gamers are extremely sensitive to bad launches after having experienced so many.

So ZOS doubled-down on Skyrim fans and everything else was pushed aside. Especially Cyrodiil which had been heavily hyped. End game pvp and pve in eso were supposed to be equally important and intertwined. Both slowly became afterthoughts. Especially Cyrodiil.

Instead of an aggressive content release schedule funded by our subs, we were expected to buy annual chapters and pay a sub or face crippling restrictions! Plus at least some of what was eventually sold as chapters had been previously completed to varying degrees. Some of it was supposed to be the adventure zones we were promised.

I was SO angry with zos. I felt it was an ethical violation and that a company with its resources should have done everything possible to make it right. I was extremely critical.. and it kept getting worse... overland content was nerfed multiple times, dungeons were nerfed, IC was nerfed, pvp was nerfed. Craglorn was supposed to be the first of many "adventure zones" with a higher difficulty, but instead it was nerfed to oblivion and we haven't seen another since.

I really let it effect me until I finally quit through 2019.

But my time away from the game changed my perspective. I realized ESO had a massive budget (by 2010 standards) of something along the lines of 150M. The money was raised by people who invested in Zenimax. They expected a return and as a business, they were required to make their best effort to ensure that.

And they all got that when Microsoft bought Zenimax. I would assume many of the ZOS principles including Matt benefited greatly from that. I have no idea though. That is an assumption. That's normally the way it works though.

Anyway, my point is this has always been a money making venture. Matt was hired to do a job and now that time has come to an end -- 18 years later! I say this a lot: all good things must come to an end. Life is change.

No one is really a victim here. This is life in the entertainment business. I feel sincerely bad for everyone affected, but this is what they signed up for. Microsoft isn't doing anything evil. Like Zenimax before the purchase, they are accountable to their stakeholders. They are doing what they think is necessary for their business. It's not personal. Not a lot of titles can survive a 7 year development period.

Because you enjoy eso so much and care so much for zos employees, I hope you'll consider continue playing. I think Matt will be fine.

WuffyCerulei

I’ll still keep playing and whatnot, because I love ESO and what the team has made and will make. I don’t like Microsoft, but I won’t let that hinder my love for ESO. Not a perfect game, but it’s gotten me out of the hardest times in my life and helped me forge good friendships. I wish Matt the best tho. Good chance he’s leaving for personal reasons, and if that’s the case, he deserves a break.

SpiritKitten

WuffyCerulei wrote: »

I’ll still keep playing and whatnot, because I love ESO and what the team has made and will make. I don’t like Microsoft, but I won’t let that hinder my love for ESO. Not a perfect game, but it’s gotten me out of the hardest times in my life and helped me forge good friendships. I wish Matt the best tho. Good chance he’s leaving for personal reasons, and if that’s the case, he deserves a break.

He left because Microsoft cancelled ZOS's other MMO-Blackbird, which has been in development for 7 years. Whether he was fired/laid off/resigned/quit...no one knows. The entire team on that project was laid off. And also other projects. A total of 15k MS Gaming employees laid off in the past 2 months.

WuffyCerulei

SpiritKitten wrote: »

WuffyCerulei wrote: »

I’ll still keep playing and whatnot, because I love ESO and what the team has made and will make. I don’t like Microsoft, but I won’t let that hinder my love for ESO. Not a perfect game, but it’s gotten me out of the hardest times in my life and helped me forge good friendships. I wish Matt the best tho. Good chance he’s leaving for personal reasons, and if that’s the case, he deserves a break.

He left because Microsoft cancelled ZOS's other MMO-Blackbird, which has been in development for 7 years. Whether he was fired/laid off/resigned/quit...no one knows. The entire team on that project was laid off. And also other projects. A total of 15k MS Gaming employees laid off in the past 2 months.

Ugh, I hate corporate greed...Yeah let's lay off 15 thousand people cuz the CEO wants buy their third yacht this year. Genuinely sucks to hear that.

Pevey

This was written in the cards as soon at Bethesda sold out to MS. I know it would have been pretty much impossible to turn down since MS was offering ridiculous monopoly money pricing based on the COVID boost in gaming numbers, free/cheap money from ZIRP, and some other factors. But it made today inevitable. The previous shareholders of the holding co are long-gone with their windfall profits, and the underlying studios and their employees are left holding the bag, trying to make the unrealistic wishful thinking/pro formas the deal was based on somehow become reality. And then actual reality sets in.

I have often been critical of ZOS and some of their decisions, but I 100% wish Matt and the rest of the crew at ZOS nothing but the best. No one deserves to to see their hard work caught up in a tornado of corporate greed. I hope they all land somewhere and create something new and have a monster hit, just to spite MS.

jle30303

I'm assuming this "Blackbird" was a code name, and are there any hints as to what its real name or genre was going to be?

MasterSpatula

jle30303 wrote: »

I'm assuming this "Blackbird" was a code name, and are there any hints as to what its real name or genre was going to be?

Standard TV industry NDA is five years from point of termination. I can only assume gaming is similar. So if Bethesda/Microsoft doesn't let us know themselves, I wouldn't be shocked if we start learning more in 2030.

Yeah, I know that's a long wait, and I hope they just tell us. But the people who most want us to know what we missed aren't the ones who make those decisions.

Elsonso

jle30303 wrote: »

I'm assuming this "Blackbird" was a code name, and are there any hints as to what its real name or genre was going to be?

It may not have had a final name, yet. Even Elder Scrolls Online wasn't "Elder Scrolls Online" at the beginning. Until Skyrim came along, it was Elder Scrolls Origins.

I expect that we will find out more about what Blackbird was as time passes. My guess is that it was a contemporary or science fiction game.

Imperial_Archmage

Bo0137 wrote: »

Today’s news are devastating for me.

Would have been helpful if you had elaborated on the news in question. I can see you’re upset but I have no idea why. 😅

voreo

jle30303 wrote: »

I'm assuming this "Blackbird" was a code name, and are there any hints as to what its real name or genre was going to be?

Starfield Citizen. (im kidding)

Nemesis7884

jle30303 wrote: »

I'm assuming this "Blackbird" was a code name, and are there any hints as to what its real name or genre was going to be?

i think there was once an open position for a vehicle designer so people assumed its more of a sci fi or modern type of game

Elsonso

Nemesis7884 wrote: »

jle30303 wrote: »

I'm assuming this "Blackbird" was a code name, and are there any hints as to what its real name or genre was going to be?

i think there was once an open position for a vehicle designer so people assumed its more of a sci fi or modern type of game

It was a "new IP" but it was never said whether it was new to ZOS in the sense that someone else created it and ZOS was making an MMO version, or new to ZOS in the sense that they created it for themselves.

The speculation that it was "Starfield Online"" is an interesting idea that has been floating around for a while. The Starfield game is a long way from being at the Oblivion or Skyrim level of interest. I don't know if a Starfield MMO would take off better than, say, a Star Wars or Star Trek MMO. I don't think that Starfield is that attractive as an IP.

Sadly, the typical reality in corporate land is that cost savings (layoffs, closures) are 'banked' and do not release new money for existing development. I am not expecting that the canceling of Blackbird and release of so many talented developers will have any positive impact on ESO. Financially, or in a manner that boost morale.

adriant1978

Elsonso wrote: »

The speculation that it was "Starfield Online"" is an interesting idea that has been floating around for a while. The Starfield game is a long way from being at the Oblivion or Skyrim level of interest. I don't know if a Starfield MMO would take off better than, say, a Star Wars or Star Trek MMO. I don't think that Starfield is that attractive as an IP.

A shame really, as I'd totally have played this. In fact I always thought the Starfield universe was primed for a future MMO, with plenty of boldly going to be done when it comes to PvE and the UC vs Freestar conflict forming the basis of PvP.

ESO is fine for your swords 'n' sorcery fix, but there isn't much around when it comes to sci-fi MMOs. SWTOR and STO are both firmly in maintenance mode now and EVE was always too hardcore for me.

kevkj

To prove your love to ZOS and ESO, you must immediately purchase 150000 crowns.

LPapirius

Rungar wrote: »

Elsonso wrote: »

There are a lot of people at ZOS that are still working on Elder Scrolls Online. I don't know if everyone on the ESO team made it through the day, or whether anyone working on "Blackbird" managed to get moved over (or back) to ESO. Hopefully, yes to both.

If someone is inclined to buy ESO Plus, I would not change that because Microsoft laid off people, closed studios, and ended games.

well a silver lining is that eso will become the focus again since thats all they have. so i wouldnt quit if you like it. Itll only hurt you.

Or everything ZOS will be degraded going forward because every project they're working on will have a skeleton crew. Today's news is catching up, and there were a lot of layoffs at ZOS. A lot. It's not just Matt that's leaving ZOS in the very near future. According to what I'm reading today there was about a 10% employee layoffs at ZOS. (don't know if this is accurate or not, just know what a couple of the online game sites are saying)

Only time will tell.

Nemesis7884

Elsonso wrote: »

Nemesis7884 wrote: »

jle30303 wrote: »

I'm assuming this "Blackbird" was a code name, and are there any hints as to what its real name or genre was going to be?

i think there was once an open position for a vehicle designer so people assumed its more of a sci fi or modern type of game

It was a "new IP" but it was never said whether it was new to ZOS in the sense that someone else created it and ZOS was making an MMO version, or new to ZOS in the sense that they created it for themselves.

The speculation that it was "Starfield Online"" is an interesting idea that has been floating around for a while. The Starfield game is a long way from being at the Oblivion or Skyrim level of interest. I don't know if a Starfield MMO would take off better than, say, a Star Wars or Star Trek MMO. I don't think that Starfield is that attractive as an IP.

Sadly, the typical reality in corporate land is that cost savings (layoffs, closures) are 'banked' and do not release new money for existing development. I am not expecting that the canceling of Blackbird and release of so many talented developers will have any positive impact on ESO. Financially, or in a manner that boost morale.

I find it unlikely that msoft would double dip so many resources on the same untested ip... but they have made other weird decisions and sf wasn exactly a banger which might explain why culling a 7 year old project seems less risky than early access or beta it...

The funny thing is that the starfield ip probably works better as a mmo...

Desiato

LPapirius wrote: »

Rungar wrote: »

Elsonso wrote: »

There are a lot of people at ZOS that are still working on Elder Scrolls Online. I don't know if everyone on the ESO team made it through the day, or whether anyone working on "Blackbird" managed to get moved over (or back) to ESO. Hopefully, yes to both.

If someone is inclined to buy ESO Plus, I would not change that because Microsoft laid off people, closed studios, and ended games.

well a silver lining is that eso will become the focus again since thats all they have. so i wouldnt quit if you like it. Itll only hurt you.

Or everything ZOS will be degraded going forward because every project they're working on will have a skeleton crew. Today's news is catching up, and there were a lot of layoffs at ZOS. A lot. It's not just Matt that's leaving ZOS in the very near future. According to what I'm reading today there was about a 10% employee layoffs at ZOS. (don't know if this is accurate or not, just know what a couple of the online game sites are saying)

Only time will tell.

Look at the 2025 content pass! It already happened. The big news for ESO wasn't yesterday, it was back in dec/jan when they announced there wouldn't be chapters anymore. It looks to me this decision was made last year when they abruptly ended their anniversary tour and implemented backend efficiencies to the mail and trader systems. They have been looking for ways to reduce costs for a while now.

I would guess Blackbird was an advanced concept that was being pushed hard to avoid the layoffs, but regardless ESO had already seen a significant cut to its budget. It's amazing how devastated people are about the cancellation of a game we know absolutely nothing about outside of its internal code name.

We should just let it play out. If you enjoy eso, then keep playing! If players panic quit because they think the end is near, then it could become a self-fulfilling prophecy.

I've been playing games since the 80s. All of this is normal. It is the entertainment business. Studios come and go all the time. Very few have the legs of DMA Design. Most successful studios go the way of Westwood. If you like ESO, enjoy it! It won't last forever regardless of what happened yesterday.