Perfect Dark Development Reportedly Coming Along Well

Development on The Initiative and Crystal Dynamics’ collaborative project, Perfect Dark, reboot is reportedly coming along well.

During the latest episode of The Xbox Two, Windows Central’s Jez Corden mentioned that he has heard from an informed source that, contrary to prior rumors, development on Perfect Dark is actually coming along really well.

Jez seems pretty confident about his source, and he found it intriguing to hear, given the negativity surrounding the project. While it’s disappointing that the studio has yet to reveal any gameplay footage, what he has heard gives him more faith in the studio’s prowess. He was not able provide any further details besides saying that what he has heard sounds reassuring.

Perfect Dark is the first project by The Initiative, a Microsoft studio founded in 2018 and headed by Darrell Gallagher. After receiving a couple job offers from Microsoft, Gallagher, who had previously worked on the 2013 Tomb Raider remake, decided to work on a Perfect Dark reboot. Prior to Gallagher joining The Initiative, plans for the game had already been discussed at the studio. Xbox chief Phil Spencer stated that the game is considered as a chance for the heroine Joanna Dark to expand the Xbox family. The game is reportedly being developed in Unreal Engine, and includes a variety of weaponry, devices, as well as a camera surveillance system.

The game is being envisioned as a spy shooter, and design director Drew Murray indicated that the company wants the protagonist’s physicality to play a bigger role than in conventional first-person shooters. Murray departed from The Initiative in February 2021 and returned to Insomniac Games. Rhonda Cox, senior producer for God of War, joined the studio shortly after.

In September 2021, The Initiative announced that the studio will collaborate on the game’s development with Crystal Dynamics. Up to his departure from The Initiative in February 2022, Daniel Neuburger, who had previously overseen many Tomb Raider games at Crystal Dynamics, served as the game’s director. A sizable number of developers had also departed from the studio in the next year, claiming a lack of creative freedom and slow development as their reasons. Embracer Group’s acquisition of Crystal Dynamics will not affect the studio’s partnership with The Initiative to co-develop Perfect Dark.