First announced back in 2020, the Perfect Dark reboot is one of several Microsoft games that were initially announced with CG trailers, only to be barely mentioned in the following years. A few of those games though – including Fable and Avowed – re-emerged at the Xbox Games Showcase earlier this month, but with Perfect Dark still MIA, questions continue to be asked about what kind of progress it’s making behind the scenes, if any.
And according to a new report published by IGN, the progress has been quite slow. The report sheds light on the last five years of production for Perfect Dark, which have been characterized by a string of setbacks. And though the game has finally started taking shape ever since Crystal Dynamics was brought on board – with the Tomb Raider studio now reportedly all but leading the project – it’s supposedly still in pre-production, five years into its development cycle.
According to the report, citing anonymous sources who have worked on the project, Perfect Dark is still “in the earliest stages” of production, and is still said to be roughly 2-3 years away from launching. Reportedly, development was all but restarted from scratch last year, with the project having shifted to Unreal Engine 5.
IGN’s report also sheds light on details that previous reports have claimed, like the fact that before Crystal Dynamics, The Initiative was co-developing Perfect Dark with Certain Affinity, the studio currently working on Halo Infinite’s battle royale experience, Tatanka (Certain Affinity is also rumoured to be working on an Xbox-exclusive Monster Hunter-style game).
The working relationship between Certain Affinity and The Initiative was constantly strained, however, which is why eventually the former was taken off the project, only for Crystal Dynamics to be brought on board. Beyond that, however, The Initiative has also consistently bled talent, having lost major chunk of its workforce to attrition, including the likes of former design director Drew Murray and game director Dan Neuburger, among many others.
At one point, The Initiatives’ headcount had dipped into the 30s, with the string of departures brought about by poor management, a lack of clear direction for the project, and a lack of any real progress being made even several years deep into development. By now, as per the report, Crystal Dynamics is essentially leading development on the project, which is something else previous reports have mentioned.
Interestingly, the report also states that as per recent plans, The Initiative is considering an episodic release model for Perfect Dark, though exactly what form that could take remains to be seen, especially with the game still in the early stages of production. It’s worth noting that this isn’t the first we’ve heard of similar plans. Reports of Perfect Dark potentially following a seasonal or episodic structure have been around since before the game was even officially announced.
As for what Perfect Dark is taking shape as in its current form, it’s been claimed that it will be a first person shooter balancing combat, espionage, gadgets, and movement. Read more on that through here.
Earlier this month, Xbox Game Studios head Matt Booty said that based on recent builds he had seen for Perfect Dark at The Initiative, he was “cautiously confident” Microsoft would be able to do an extensive gameplay reveal for the reboot within the next 18 months. Read more on that through here.