Xbox has reportedly cancelled Rare’s Everwild and a brand new MMO from the crew behind The Elder Scrolls Online. Xbox has an enormous roster of studios and franchises, however they’ve run into some struggles in recent times which have massively impacted their potential. For starters, there are video games that had been introduced all the way in which again in 2020 which can be nonetheless at the least a 12 months or extra away from lastly releasing equivalent to Excellent Darkish and Fable. Then there are video games which have quietly sat in silence for even longer than that equivalent to Rare’s subsequent sport Everwild. The sport was introduced again in 2021, however has been in numerous phases of improvement for over a decade.
Sadly, after years of silence following its 2019 reveal and a 2021 trailer, Everwild has been reportedly cancelled. VGC reported the cancellation as a part of large layoffs sweeping Microsoft this week. Everwild was anticipated to be considerably of a successor to Viva Pinata with survival sport parts. It’s unclear if the challenge wasn’t assembly Microsoft’s requirements or if the sport was only a obligatory cancellation as a way to reduce prices. Microsoft has shut down studios and killed tasks prior to now just because they wouldn’t have a sport prepared very quickly, so it’s potential this was the explanation, however we are able to solely speculate till Microsoft says one thing formally. Xbox had reassured followers the challenge was nonetheless within the works earlier this 12 months.
Along with that, Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier confirmed {that a} new unannounced MMO from Zenimax Online Studios, the crew behind The Elder Scrolls Online. The challenge has been within the works since 2018 and was codenamed Blackbird. It’s unclear if this was an MMO primarily based round any of Bethesda’s different franchises. Fallout already has one within the type of Fallout 76, so it’s unlikely it was that.
As of proper now, it’s unclear what these groups subsequent steps are. We’re unsure what their headcount is after these layoffs, so it’s arduous to find out what scale these studios can obtain. Rare nonetheless actively helps Sea of Thieves, so extra updates for that sport are probably within the playing cards, however by way of their subsequent sport? Who’s to say. Rare hasn’t launched a model new sport since 2018, so it could possibly be a few years earlier than we do see a brand new sport from the studio. At this charge, it’s probably we go the remainder of the Xbox Collection X era earlier than it occurs.
It’s unclear if some other Xbox video games had been scrapped throughout this layoff interval. It’s potential that extra unannounced video games have additionally been cancelled, however there aren’t any stories of such a factor in the mean time. Xbox nonetheless boasts a robust future line up with Fable, Excellent Darkish, a brand new Forza, a brand new Halo, Name of Responsibility, and Gears of Conflict: E-Day. On the very least, it’s good to see each studios are nonetheless standing and hopefully, no matter they select to do subsequent is nice.
