One game absent from the recent Xbox Games Showcase was The Intiative's anticipated reboot of Perfect Dark.
Fortunately, Xbox studio chief Matt Booty has provided a small but reassuring update during a chat with Axios, mentioning how he's actually been playing builds of the game and is looking forward to seeing what fans think of it when the project is finally unveiled.
“I've played builds. I looked at it. I'm very excited for people to see what we're doing.”
Again it is only a brief update, but it's nice to know development is still progressing. As for the departures at The Initiative during this time, Booty says it came down to differences in the approach to the project.
Crystal Dynamics (Rise of the Tomb Raider) was brought in to assist the new studio in September 2021. In its own update last November, it mentioned how the project was going "extremely well". And although its parent company Embracer Group has recently announced layoffs, Crystal Dynamics has reassured fans this will have no impact on its "continuing efforts" with its partners at The Initiative.
The new Perfect Dark game was originally unveiled at The Game Awards in 2020 and according to previous descriptions will bring the classic video game first-person spy thriller to a new generation of players.