ZeniMax Online founder confirms he quit after Microsoft shut down Project Blackbird, “the game I had waited my entire career to create”

ZeniMax Online founder Matt Firor has confirmed he chose to walk away from the studio after parent company Microsoft canceled Project Blackbird, “the game [he] had waited [his] entire career to create.”

Following the announcement of the closure of Zenimax Online Studios’ long-in-development MMO in July, as part of the sweeping Microsoft cuts and layoffs, studio president Matt Firor left the company that same month, stating the studio and The Elder Scrolls Online will be “in great hands” under the direction of new studio head Jo Burba, executive producer Susan Kath and game director Rich Lambert.

Now, in a candid message posted over the new year LinkedIn (via IGN), Firor thanked colleagues for their support after announcing his exit from Maryland-based ZeniMax Online, and admitted “the most obvious explanation [about his leaving ZOS] is the correct one.”

“About what led my leaving ZOS – the most obvious explanation is the correct one. Project Blackbird was the game I had waited my entire career to create, and having it canceled led to my resignation. My heart and thoughts are always with the impacted team members, many of whom I had worked 20+ years with, and all of whom were the most dedicated, amazingly talented group of developers in the industry,” Firor wrote.

The developer added that he “still hasn’t figured out” what’s next for him, but was “not totally sitting on the sidelines,” either.

“I have been advising some projects and startups in an unofficial capacity, and I’ve made some investments in small teams that I know will play a big part in changing the industry in the future,” he added. “But I have not yet seriously contemplated spinning up a new development studio.”

Firor also clarified that he was not involved in any of the projects that have been “spun up” by his former team, but was “advising some of them informally.”

ZeniMax Online – which has six locations across the US – was founded by Firor in 2007 and is owned by ZeniMax Media. ZeniMax Media is, in turn, owned by Microsoft.