One of the projects that took a hit during Microsoft's mass layoffs the other week was Zenimax Online Studios' online role-playing game Blackbird. It was reported to be so promising that Microsoft executives could hardly stop playing it.
In the latest episode of the Xbox Two Podcast, Windows Central editor Jez Corden tells us more about the closure and why the decision was made. He says it ultimately came down to Microsoft wanting to free up more resources to focus on a safer franchise like Fallout, something the market is currently clamouring for:
"From what I heard, it was a case of tradeoffs and that the program to expand Fallout 5, and just Fallout in general, that's where they've decided to make the investments and where the money will be translated into more of a surefire win."
It has been widely rumoured that Bethesda is working on a remaster of Fallout 3 on the same premise as The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, but so far nothing has been announced. Fallout 5 is also said to be in the works, but is supposedly further down the line, and it's easy to imagine that that team could get more resources through the Blackbird shutdown.