Xbox’s Perfect Dark Reboot Still in Early Stages
The Perfect Dark reboot for Xbox is still in its earliest stages of development and is projected to release in 2-3 years, according to insiders.
Reports suggest that the development cycle of the game has faced its fair share of challenges. A total of 13 individuals who have worked on the project across three different studios have provided insights to IGN.
Recent plans indicate a potential episodic release for Perfect Dark, although this approach may change given the game’s distant release date.
The Initiative: Leading the Project
The Initiative, a first-party Xbox studio headed by Darrell Gallagher, formerly of Activision and Square Enix, has been developing Perfect Dark since its establishment in 2018.
Set in a near-future world and filled with secret agent intrigue, Perfect Dark is the first new entry in the series since Rare’s Perfect Dark Zero debuted alongside the Xbox 360 in 2005.
Although the game was announced in 2020, no footage or updates have been shared since then due to multiple setbacks and development delays.
These challenges reportedly include a difficult co-development partnership with Certain Affinity, which worked on Perfect Dark between 2019 and 2021, as well as a high turnover rate at The Initiative.
In March 2022, AsumeTech reported a wave of senior departures from The Initiative throughout the previous year, describing it as “fast and furious”.
In September 2021, it was announced that Xbox had teamed up with Crystal Dynamics to co-develop Perfect Dark. IGN claims the project was essentially rebooted using Unreal 5 last year.
According to sources, Perfect Dark is a narrative-driven first-person shooter that combines combat and espionage with spy gadgets and experimental movement technologies. Although there is still a long way to go, the game is said to be moving in the right direction.
The Future of Perfect Dark
Xbox Game Studios boss Matt Booty, who previously stated that the era of single studios working on large-scale games is over, told IGN that he had a “full review” of Perfect Dark in May.
Despite the bumps in the road and hiccups along the way, Booty believes that The Initiative and Crystal Dynamics have finally found their stride in developing the game.
