As Matt Soell put it in the HBO forum and in an email to Rampancy, this is one of those times when rumors aren't entirely untrue.

To wit:

The Phoenix team has decided to shelve the game they were working on in favor of a new project. We actually look upon this as a good thing. They're still called the Phoenix team, but they're doing something different.

And what exactly is something different ?

Stay tuned...