UPDATE: According to an internal email acquired by Windows Central, Matt Booty has confirmed Perfect Dark’s cancelation and noted that The Initiative will be closed down entirely.
“Following Phil’s note, I want to share more about the changes to the Studios business units.
We have made the decision to stop development of Perfect Dark and Everwild as well as wind down several unannounced projects across our portfolio. As part of this, we are closing one of our studios, The Initiative. These decisions, along with other changes across our teams, reflect a broader effort to adjust priorities and focus resources to set up our teams for greater success within a changing industry landscape. We did not make these choices lightly, as each project and team represent years of effort, imagination, and commitment.
– Matt Booty
Original story below:
According to various sources, Xbox has canceled the new Perfect Dark reboot as the mass layoffs throughout Microsoft hit The Initiative. Currently, it is unknown how many people are being let go from the team, but the partnership with Crystal Dynamics will no longer be going forward.
After years of rumors, Perfect Dark was officially revealed in 2020. It wasn’t until last summer when Xbox finally revealed gameplay for the title at its Xbox Showcase, but the game was notably absent from this year’s show. There was no known planned release date, but the way the game was talked up in the early years was that this was going to be Xbox’s first “AAAA” game, a project with so much talent and resources put into it that it was going to be a massive release for Xbox Game Studios.
Why Was Perfect Dark Canceled?
There are multiple reasons why Xbox could have decided to call it quits on Perfect Dark. First, all of the stories coming out of The Initiative over the last few years have been rather bad. Stories of the game going through development hell and leadership changes were about all that we had heard before the gameplay reveal last year. If things were turning around, we doubt Microsoft would be so willing to just sink all of the costs they have already put into development.
Additionally, you can’t really ignore the elephant in the room when it comes to the Activision Blizzard acquisition. Since Microsoft spent $69 billion on bringing in those teams and IP, the company has been working hard to cut costs in various areas. That is still a big reason for the layoffs this week, even with Phil Spencer saying Xbox has more “players, games, and gaming hours than ever before.” For a large scale company like Microsoft, that isn’t enough if the profits aren’t setting new records.
As for The Initiative’s future, that is murky to say the least. Since the studios’ announcement in 2018, it has had nothing to show for the last seven years with Perfect Dark being canceled. We will update this article when we learn more on the situation.
