🚨 “XBOX DELETES 7-YEAR FALLOUT/ESO MMO MASTERPIECE – BETHESDA TOO TALENTLESS TO FIGHT BACK!” 😱💀🕳️

Project Blackbird – cyberpunk gem from ESO/Fallout 76 devs – AXED in 2025 layoffs! Phil Spencer “COULDN’T PUT DOWN” demo… then Microsoft SHUT IT DOWN! Matt Firor QUITS dream project after 20 years!

Fresh LEAKED footage DROPS: Neon chaos, aliens, GUNS – looked INSANE! But Starfield FLIP? Talent GUTTED, ES6 doomed? Gamers ROASTING: “Xbox killed RPGs!” 🔥🤬

Woke cuts or cash crunch? You WON’T believe the savage Firor rage-quit… 👇

Microsoft’s Xbox gaming division has once again made headlines for axing a high-profile project, this time with fresh leaked footage of the canceled MMORPG Project Blackbird from ZeniMax Online Studios – the team behind The Elder Scrolls Online (ESO) and Fallout 76. The sci-fi title, in development for seven years, was scrapped in July 2025 amid sweeping layoffs that claimed around 9,000 jobs across Microsoft’s gaming empire.

The two-minute clip, which surfaced on X and YouTube over the January 19 weekend, showcases a neon-drenched cyberpunk metropolis bustling with armored patrols, alien vendors hawking guns, and multi-level urban exploration. Described as an early Unreal Engine 4 tech demo – not the final build – it evokes Mass Effect meets Cyberpunk 2077, complete with dynamic lighting and hints of class-based combat. Insider Tom Henderson clarified it’s outdated footage, but fans hailed it as “lost potential,” with posts like @IdleSloth84_’s leak clip amassing thousands of views and comments decrying Xbox’s “RPG graveyard.”

ZeniMax Online, a Bethesda subsidiary acquired by Microsoft for $7.5 billion in 2021, kicked off Project Blackbird in 2018. Led by veterans from Fallout 76 and Doom, it targeted a 2028 launch as a premium MMO blending shooter elements and narrative depth. Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer reportedly raved about a March 2024 demo, playing so obsessively that devs had to intervene. Yet, amid post-acquisition cost-cutting – exacerbated by flops like Starfield and stagnating Game Pass subs at 35 million – it fell victim to the bloodbath.

The cancellation hit hard. Matt Firor, ESO’s longtime director and ZOS co-founder since 2007, resigned days later. In a January 1 LinkedIn post, he called Blackbird “the game I had waited my entire career to create,” mourning 20-year colleagues laid off en masse. Firor now advises indies like employee-owned Sackbird Studios, formed by ex-ZOS devs seeking AAA-free freedom. “Xbox couldn’t put the game down… then killed it,” one X user sniped, echoing viral YouTube rants like “Xbox DELETES new Fallout/Elder Scrolls game, Bethesda too TALENTLESS.”

ZOS’s track record fuels the fire. They salvaged Fallout 76 from launch disaster into a steady earner, while ESO boasts millions of players despite MTX gripes. But critics blast Bethesda proper as “talentless” post-Starfield: The space RPG sold 10-15 million but peaked at 30% Steam ratings amid “empty planets” memes. Skyrim’s lead writer bailed recently, stranding Elder Scrolls 6 (ES6) in “development hell.” X exploded: @DAKKADAKKA1 quipped “Starfield flopped and stripped remaining talent,” while @Pirat_Nation shared Firor’s exit with 1,200+ likes.

Speculation swirled of a “new online Fallout” nix, tying ZOS’s multiplayer chops to unannounced projects. A January 5 YouTube video (8K+ views) claimed Xbox soured on Bethesda after Starfield, FO4 remaster woes, and TV show flops, deleting “Fallout/ESO” MMOs to chase subs. No confirmation emerged, but it amplified “Bethesda cooked” memes.

Microsoft defends the cuts as fiscal prudence. Activision Blizzard integration post-$69B buyout demanded trims; Xbox closed studios like Tango Gameworks despite Hi-Fi Rush success. Game Pass hit 35M but missed 50M targets, prompting live-service pivots – Blackbird‘s premium model clashed. ESO lead Rich Lambert insists post-layoff updates roll on, unshaken.

Fan backlash mirrors prior Xbox woes: Perfect Dark, Everwild axed; Concord shut days post-launch. r/GamingLeaksAndRumours threads like “New Leaked footage from Project Blackbird” drew thousands, with calls to “boycott Bethesda slop.” @Grummz-style influencers tie it to “DEI drains,” but devs like Firor focus on talent exodus.

Bethesda’s pipeline? ES6 pre-production since 2018, eyed post-FO5 (2026?); FO5 rumors persist amid TV Season 2 hype. Todd Howard touts Creation Engine 2 upgrades, but skeptics predict “fetch-quest hell.”

The leak – real but archaic, per Henderson – spotlights what-if: A ZOS MMO could’ve rivaled FFXIV. Instead, it’s Xbox’s latest scar. Firor: “Talented team gutted.” Microsoft? Silent, eyes on Q2 earnings.

As Blackbird‘s neon fades, Bethesda’s “talentless” tag sticks – Xbox’s $75B+ bets yielding memes, not masterpieces.