For those few years of speculation prior to The Initative announcing its secret game in development, anticipation among fans was high. Plenty of fans were throwing around possible IPs and games that the studio may have been working on at the time. That being said, the prevailing rumor quickly became Perfect Dark, and that The Initiative was putting together a reboot for the 20-year-old franchise. Fast-forward to The Game Awards in 2020, and Microsoft revealed the first short teaser for Perfect Dark, showcasing the dystopian world and the first (vague) look at Agent Dark. From then on, there’s been relative silence from the development team and the state of the game.
News this week, as reported by VGC, indicates that there’s been significant turnover and turmoil at The Initiative, the primary development team working on the Perfect Dark reboot. Working in collaboration with Crystal Dynamics, it seems many of the senior staff (among others) have left The Initiative in droves, right around the same time the Crystal Dynamics news was announced. The Initiative has publicly addressed the report and stated its confidence in the team working with Crystal Dynamics, which is evidently taking a greater lead on the project now. That being said, it’s clear this significant change in leadership could potentially lead to a very different Perfect Dark reboot.
An Unexpected First Look Into Perfect Dark’s Tumultuous Development
Crystal Dynamics officially joined the project in September of last year, but it seems that was in response to several of the departures and turnover at The Initiative. Based on the way the report and interviews frame these departures, it seems Crystal Dynamics is taking on the lead developer role for the Perfect Dark reboot compared to The Initiative. Those interviewed in VGC’s report indicate a “top-down” approach to development that left little leeway for developer freedom; interviewed developers specifically pointed out studio head Darrell Gallagher and former game director Daniel Neuburger as part of the reason for their headstrong vision for Perfect Dark.
As a result, several senior executives and developers (including Neuburger) left The Initiative due to “painfully” slow. Though the Initiative has expressed confidence in the existing team alongside Crystal Dynamics, it’s clear that development has been tumultuous on Perfect Dark. That would also explain the lack of news and information outside of the pre-rendered announcement trailer from over a year ago. As for Microsoft, for now, there’s been no confirmed response or action from the company on behalf of this news. Granted, Microsoft has shown in the past that it’s willing to remain patient (and has the extra business capital to do so) with developers.
How This Affects The Initiative, Perfect Dark
However, that also means that the Perfect Dark reboot’s development is in an early enough stage where an overhaul or soft reboot of development could easily occur. Even though stories of people like Phil Spencer playing The Initiative’s Perfect Dark exist, this news could indicate that Crystal Dynamics could take the game in a new or adjusted direction. Perfect Dark likely isn’t in a state of development where it releases anywhere before 2023-2024 regardless, and considering there’s no confirmed release date for Perfect Dark, Crystal Dynamics and The Initiative have all the time in the world to work on the game long-term.
That’s not to say the project is theoretically in the wrong hands; much of The Initiative’s development team is made up of ex-Crystal Dynamics developers who worked on the Tomb Raider reboot series. Even though the tone of Perfect Dark (an espionage spy thriller FPS) is arguably different from Tomb Raider (a third-person action adventure game), both succeed from epic set-pieces and complex puzzles. Crystal Dynamics has more than proven its worth with its iconic, Uncharted-like moments in the studio’s last three Tomb Raider games. Perfect Dark’s “eco sci-fi” setting, alongside the stakes set by the game’s reveal, likely would fit epic and intense scenes.
That being said, the departures from The Initiative are an unusual upheaval, especially for a “AAAA” development studio that’s got a lot of promise behind it. Granted, VGC’s report and The Initiative’s Gallagher have cited the ongoing pandemic as a factor in the studio’s turnover, but that’s clearly not the full story. Without any indication of Perfect Dark’s development progress, it’s hard to speculate exactly how detrimental this could be toward the game’s development. Crystal Dynamics stepping in to the degree that it’s become the lead developer of the project certainly means a development reboot is likely for Perfect Dark.
Perfect Dark is in development.
Source: VGC
