Former Zenimax Online Studios staff launch employee-owned Sackbird Studios in wake of Microsoft layoffs
Let's go Birds.
Veteran game developers from Zenimax Online Studios have announced the formation of a new employee-owned game development company: Sackbird Studios. The small team is composed of several developers from both The Elder Scrolls: Online team, and those who were working on the cancelled sci-fi MMO Project Blackbird.
This new studio, formed in the wake of widespread layoffs at Zenimax Online Studios, is employee-owned according to the announcement posted on its fresh-faced website. It has a runway for multiple years, and is apparently totally self-funded. This means the devs at Sackbird have a few years to make a game off their own dime, without any stockholders or massive international corporations getting involved in things.
This announcement came with a bit of context as to the studio's formation. Project Blackbird's cancellation seemingly acted as the push Sackbird's founders needed to go their own way, with the new studio aimed at "avoiding pitfalls" the team have seen firsthand.
David Worley, COO at Sackbird Studios, wrote as part of this announcement: "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."
Lee Ridout, CEO at Sackbird Games, also added his own statement, writing: "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 realized the best way to protect our craft--and our team--was to create a studio where creative independence isn't negotiable."
Following the cancellation of the in-development MMO, Zenimax Online Studios head Matt Firor left the company.