ZeniMax’s canceled MMO led to the formation of Sackbird Games

ZeniMax Online Studios was put in a situation to can Project Blackbird, a new MMO shooter that had its roots back in 2018. Now, those that were laid off following its cancellation have joined forces to form the cheekily named Sackbird Games.

COO David Worley expressed that the team wanted freedom from chasing quarterly targets and waiting on greenlights, so the team formed the fully employee-owned and funded studio.

“After years in AAA, we wanted the freedom to take smart risks without waiting for a greenlight or chasing quarterly targets. We’re fully employee-owned and funded, which means we only answer to people who are passionate about games.”

Right now, Sackbird hasn’t shared its debut project, but we assume it won’t be anything like Project Blackbird, which on top of being an MMO, which is a bit hard for a small team to pull off, it was billed as similar to Destiny, that is to say, it would’ve probably chased some trends, which the studio is adamant it has no obligation to do.

Gabriel Stanford-Reisinger Editor-in-Chief

Gabe has been a gamer since he was young, playing games like Pajama Sam, Freddi Fish, Guitar Hero, and whatever looked cool on GameFly. Ever since 2018, he's been infatuated with the inner workings of the gaming and entertainment industries, covering a wide range of topics from video games to TV and film. Starting as a contributor for PSX Extreme, he's worked his way up to its Managing Editor. Using what's he learned over the years, he founded Smash Jump to remind everyone to smash jump.