ZeniMax Online founder Matt Firor has confirmed that he has decided to leave the studio after parent company Microsoft shut down Project Blackbird, “the game [he] waited [his] create your entire career.”
After announcing the closure of long-in-development MMO Zenimax Online Studios in July, large-scale cuts and layoffs at Microsoftstudio president Matt Firor left the company that same month.stating that the studio and The Elder Scrolls Online will be “in good hands” under the leadership of new studio head Joe Burba, executive producer Susan Kath and game director Rich Lambert.
Now in a candid message published on the eve of the New Year LinkedIn (by using IGN), Firor thanked colleagues for their support after announcing his departure from Maryland-based ZeniMax Online and admitted “the most obvious explanation [about his leaving ZOS] correct”.
“What prompted me to leave ZOS – the most obvious explanation is correct. Project Blackbird is a game I've been waiting my entire career to make, and its cancellation led to my retirement. My heart and thoughts are always with the affected team members, many of whom I have worked with for over 20 years, and all of whom have been the most dedicated, amazingly talented group of developers in the industry,” Firor wrote.
The developer added that he “still doesn’t understand” what awaits him next, but he also “didn’t sit completely on the sidelines.”
“I have advised some projects and startups in an informal capacity and also invested in some small teams that I know will play a big role in changing the industry in the future,” he added. “But I haven’t seriously considered starting a new development studio yet.”
Firor also clarified that he did not participate in any of the projects that his former team “promoted,” but “he consulted on some of them unofficially.”
ZeniMax Online, which has six offices in the United States, was founded by Firor in 2007 and is owned by ZeniMax Media. ZeniMax Media, in turn, is owned by Microsoft.
