Former staff from ZeniMax Online Studios have founded a brand new developer called Sackbird. 

The venture is being created by staff who worked on The Elder Scrolls Online and were developing the cancelled Project Blackbird. That game was cancelled by Microsoft earlier this year as part of its restructuring process that saw over 9,000 staff lose their jobs, studios closed and projects canned. 

Sackbird is headed up by CEO Lee Ridout and COO David Worley. They were studio director of product management and ecommerce, and principal tools engineer at ZeniMax Online Studios. 

“After years in triple-A, we wanted the freedom to take smart risks without waiting for a greenlight or chasing quarterly targets,” Worley said.]

“We’re fully employee-owned and funded, which means we only answer to people who are passionate about games.” 

Ridout added: “We’re grateful for our time at ZeniMax Online Studios; it shaped us as developers and as people. When I learned that Blackbird was being cancelled and a lot of people were losing their jobs, it lit a fire. We realised the best way to protect our craft—and our team—was to create a studio where creative independence isn’t negotiable.”