We've been waiting multiple years now for news about Xbox and The Initiative's reboot of Perfect Dark, and unfortunately it seems like we could be waiting a lot longer, with the game not set to release until at least 2025.
This is according to a new report from IGN, which goes into significant detail about the history of the game's development and how it really struggled from around 2019 until 2022. Here's a brief excerpt:
"The project has seen roadblock after roadblock, with problems such as a fraught co-development partnership, a pandemic, technological challenges, an ongoing exodus of significant talent, and unclear direction from management keeping the game in development limbo."
There's a lot to unpack here, but essentially it sounds like the original co-partnership with Halo studio Certain Affinity presented some "challenges" on both sides, there were obvious issues doing the pandemic as well, and struggles over the game's creative vision also resulted in a lot of builds being thrown out.
Crystal Dynamics ended up joining the project in 2021, and following a decision to switch to Unreal Engine 5, it was apparently determined that the project needed to be "essentially started over from scratch".
Slow but effective progress was apparently made last year, and the game now has "stronger foundations" than ever but still has "a long way to go". It sounds like we'll be waiting until around 2025 or 2026 until it finally launches.
"All my sources with recent knowledge of its status say it’s still in pre-production, roughly two to three years away from release."
It's been a rough ride for Perfect Dark and Xbox's new studio The Initiative so far, but hopefully the game is finally now on the right path — we'll keep our fingers crossed that we'll be playing it in just a couple of years' time!
What are your thoughts about this? Tell us down in the comments section below.
Comments 58
Been waiting for this one. After all the radio silence, and what happened to all their other games of the time, this was expected.
The quest to create an AAA game can go smoothly or in this case not so smoothly. If it doesn’t go to plan then this happens … a switch in engines can be AAA nightmare…
Maybe it's because they hired everyone who is so talented from other studios and they are all in the same room with all of there ego's and can't get along
Nothing new in here. Many insiders have said the same for ages.
Nothing to worry about, no one expected 2024 at all, I didn't!
Typical of xbox studios to never release of keep delaying games constantly
Well then there is no reason to talk about it.
@Dan1283 I'm pretty sure it's not like they do it on purpose , other studios delay games
Why not acquire Crystal Dynamics since they are doing The Initiative's job?
@CenturianShark That's what The Initiative is. Hierarchy is needed in studios and everyone at The Initiative thinks that they're right and that their colleagues are wrong.
Honestly fellas i went and bought a ps5 this weekend, ff16 got me. I still feel like the big X is my main, and I think it's the better console (things like quick resume, the massive backwards compat, etc.). But they just cannot get games out the door. Idk if it's they have this massive bureaucracy with overlapping, competing roles, no oversight, or what. But the fact is they learned at the reveal of the xbox one this battle is won and lost on games, especially what games only you can offer. A decade later they still haven't solved it. Loved Xbox from the day i got my og at christmas and booted up Halo with the Duke in hand, but enough's enough.
@Reptilio good for you, I hope you enjoy your new system.
But regarding your comment that Xbox cannot get games out of the door, here is my opinion:
Xbox screw up really hard last generation. They closed a lot of studios and were on the brink of quitting the console race. Under Phil Spencer's leadership, they eventually started investing in game development again, but Xbox dark ages left an impact. For years they had nothing in the pipeline to release. And we are experiencing that right now: no AAA game in 2022, only the abysmall Redfall in 2023, and coming from Bethesda, not Xbox Game Studios.
In order keep its fans engaged, Xbox had no other choice, but to announce games years in advance. Perfect Dark, Fable, Everwild, State of Decay 3, Avowed... they were all in early development when they were announced.
But what could Xbox do other than show games that were many years away? The brand would be dead if they waited until those games to be almost ready before announcing them. Do you think the Xbox drought of 2022 and 2023 is bad? Imagine that drought and not knowing about half the games we know are in development right now. We would be under the impression that Xbox is about to quit the console race altogether.
@Reptilio that’s cool. I have my PS5 too, nothing wrong with playing some games on a different system. I have started FFXVI and will play through it and then will be right back on my Xbox.
The 2025 date doesn’t bother me since that is what I was expecting; but obviously if it goes to 2026 and beyond then yea that sucks. But not like we are sitting here doing nothing until then.
It's not a problem that the game is getting pushed back to make it a better game, that is normal. The problem is they announced it too early.
@Reptilio when they delayed starfield for a year last year was the day i purchased a ps5, the greatest decision gaming wise, the controller is truly next gen, the exclusives. I still have a series s for gamepass. FF 16 is truly a masterpiece, i play it on performance mode and it runs good and still looks great.
Today..
Me: 🙂 well this seems positive so far…
Me: And there it is. 😂
Xbox (and this site) both giveth and taketh away.
No worries with this considering Xbox will lauch 2-4 AAA games each year from now until 2025
I do not give a fart about this game. I’d rather they put their talent onto a new IP instead of this. Perfect Dark was great on the N64, I’ve never understood the obsession with carrying the IP on.
These remakes are such a colossal waste of time and resources.
@Magabro I understand that, but that's not really the problem. The problem is now we're learning they haven't actually made any progress on those games they announced well in advance
Bunch of complainers in this comment section
@Reptilio yeah, but that's because that's the way game development usually goes. It's normal to reboot the development and even cancel games before they're even annouced. But since those games were announced really early on, we're aware of the all the drama.
Copy the original games multiplayer code-for-code but add a new campaign. I know that’s not a small amount of work but that has to be the general direction for it.
Of course top brass probably want an ongoing multiplayer/season progression in place to keep the subs rolling in rather than something that it just raw fun.
https://www.purexbox.com/news/2023/06/xboxs-matt-booty-has-played-the-perfect-dark-reboot-and-is-very-excited
Literally last week. Now it’s potentially 2yrs away. Got to be easier to just not say this kinda thing.
@Magabro i don't think you read the article bro. The point is it's unusual to take this long and they have lost staff who was working on it out of frustration
This will not release before midway through 2026 I'm sure, perhaps a 2026 fall release.
It's 3 years away at least from the wording of the statement. Bit disappointed but expected unfortunately.
I should be finishing up with Starfield right around then…
its a next gen launch title along with elder scrolls 6! 60 fps?....naw.
@Magabro well said, i agree. They had to announce games. I am sure they want those titles in gamers hands as soon as they can. But they can’t hurt the games by releasing them in a Redfall state of condition. I am on record saying i beat and liked many parts of Redfall. I think there is a decent game there, but it needed another 6-12 months to cook more. Then it probably would have launched as a 78-82 meta score. You have a good business sense to the industry and summed up the Xbox position very nicely.
This does not compute for me…. “Preproduction”, as far as I understand, means… they have not started production. This rumor, as I read it, implies that work is both, progressing, and not actually started….
@themightyant Exactly, this is the main problem for Xbox right now, there’s nothing wrong with delaying, restarting or even cancelling a game internally if they don’t think they can hit their goals yet, the problem is that the public shouldn’t know about any of this, starting from the existence of the game more than 5 years before it can get released.
This one is lower on my must have list. Oddly enough it’s this an Everwild hat I cared the least about upon reveal.
But Indiana Jones and SoD 3 are getting me. I really would like an official update.
One thing is for sure, games coming out in 18/24 months are going to look beautiful on unreal engine 5.
@IOI Agreed. I accept that it is complicated in that the initial announcement wasn't really for us gamers, it was to try and recruit more developers to work on the project.
But it is disappointing to be told about SO MANY games 3-4+ years before we will ever see them. Xbox has a long list of 10+ titles announced, most many years ago, that still haven't released.
@Reptilio Having both XSX and PS5, is a great position to be in. They are both superb machines. Each system and service has pros and cons and each has good games. Win Win.
An Xbox exclusive in development hell. Is anyone surprised?
The future of AAAA games truly is looking great between this and Beyond Good and Evil 2, should rename it to Imperfect Dark.
Too many Chefs in the beginning? Trying to create a new 'Super Studio' from Scratch with quite a bit of 'talent' all potentially eager to take on some more 'creative' freedom, more creative 'input' at their new Studio....
Perfect Dark - a Massive expectation in name alone for its campaign with all these people trying to pull this Franchise bang up to 'modern' day and keep true to its 'roots' and then when it came to a 'focussed' work creating something 'together' its a mismatch and disagreements..
I'm sure they still have a Structure and when I heard CD where now 'co-developing' and it would be UE5 next gen Only, I was grateful. I think an IP as big as PD is, the weight of Expectation and the eyes of the world being as 'critical' as they are (Social Media doesn't reflect real life thankfully - although in some places it scarily is...) for a 'new' Studio to handle is too much. So as soon as CD were 'helping', I thought Its in good hands now...
Take as long as necessary - its not as if there isn't 'other' games coming, some big ones this year to be excited for and 'many' more games coming to play...
@Savage_Joe ‘the initiative’ was a team of some of the best in the business and they started making a perfect dark game, what a waste. Haven’t most of them left?
@Banjo- @BrilliantBill " the whole plot can be summed up into a billionaire girl having daddy issues, I don't really see the appeal/necessity of acquiring this studio."
LOL it's a well made game despite the dreadful plot design, writer's fault, not the whole studio. Plus, the appeal is that they're cheap. Like really cheap. Like really really cheap, because Embracer appears to have "unexpectedly" hit their debt limit is restructuring and basically closing up everything they can. They may sell it for that Hexen tee and an Omega.
@Reptilio This game was announced that far in advance not for our sake, but so they could start recruiting. Sure, they could had started recruiting without announcing the title, but it's a lot harder to convince people to submit resumes for a new game, than it is with a classic IP that many have fond memories of. Many devs will jump at a chance to work on an IP like Perfect Dark. Few are likely to jump at a chance to work on Microsoft's latest experimental new studio with zero track record.
Remember when xbox proclaimed this Quadruple AAAA lol
What a belting week XBox is having
@themightyant I agree with you 100%. Xbox needs to announce what they can get done rather than pitch us games that are in the concept art stage. I get the idea of showing that games will come, but that’s like asking people to be disappointed
@BAMozzy Part of the trouble with the launch of The Initiative is that a lot of the devs felt lied to. They were headhunted from some of the best studios, on the promise they were going to work as part of a small super-team and quickly iterate new ideas. After years of ever extending AAA development pipelines this was a very exciting prospect for many veterans, almost like returning to their roots of small indie like projects but crucially with an team of experienced devs and backed by Microsoft.
I LOVED that idea, I still do, and was super excited to see what they came up with. But they ended up just being another AAA studio making a reboot of an old FPS IP. Not so exciting.
Along with other reasons (lack of direction, lack of culture) this led to well over half those veteran developers leaving, many returning to previous jobs, especially key staff on the project. At which point The Initiative had to completely pivot. It’s a real shame they couldn't realise the original vision.
This is why acquiring a studio or publisher is much more practical than starting one from scratch. I see way too many people say xbox should just spend the $70 billion ABK money on starting up their own studios. Even with a known IP it can be a struggle to get up and running. Going on the spending spree was the best route they could go.
What a disaster, DO NOT SHOW THE BLOODY GAME THEN! It’s ridiculous to showcase a game years off. But Microsoft just had to do it.
Just let it die and start again
Damn, was really looking forward to this coming out within the next year or two. Something is up with the way Microsoft manages their studios. I know this stuff happens in the game industry, but it's been happening consistently with a lot of XBOX's studios.
@Cashews it will be a brand new game. Not a remake etc.
I kind of shrugged at this. I wasn't expecting it until 2025. If it's another 6 months or a year, oh well. Lots coming in the meantime.
@Ep_13 oh. that is more fun. Me: corrected.
@Fenbops a known IP will have more sales initially than a new IP. A bad Perfect Dark game will have more engagement than a bad unknown game. Even Duke Nukem Forever sold a lot despite it being absolute dogshit. The game would have disappeared and been forgotten otherwise.
This is one reason I don't like games that aren't even in development properly getting an announcement trailer or even games that are several years away from getting finished. But to still be in the earliest stages of development around 3 years in shows that no one actually had a vision for the game and Microsoft essentially took one of the Rare's IPs and gave it to a random developer and said "here make a game"
Instant flop like Redfall and probably the closure of the studio.
I have no faith in any game that's in development hell by western devs.
@dreadful
I don't trust most games stuck in development hell from any country. Japan has had some stinkers too, Final Fantasy 13, 15 and 16 come to mind.
Oof. Developer changes, engine changes, large staff turnover? That's not boding well for the final product. Because even if it does come out in 2025 that won't mean 7 years of development time, but 6 years of messing about with little useful produced and 12/18 months of crunch to make the final game :/
@Fenbops The problem is, no one at Xbox game studios knows how to make a new IP except Rare. Seriously, when was the last new IP to come out of Xbox game studios besides Sea of Thieves or something from the relatively new acquired studios?
@Serpentes420 Not knowing how to make new IP's is hardly an issue exclusive to Xbox these days lol, it's become a major issue for AAA gaming this gen.
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