It looks like Perfect Dark has lost its game director

videogameschronicle.com:

Perfect Dark’s game director appears to have quit Xbox developer The Initiative.

According to his LinkedIn profile (as spotted by Xbox sleuth Klobrille), Dan Neuburger left the California-based studio last month. His profile page currently flags that he is looking for work elsewhere in design or director roles.

Neuburger had worked at The Initiative for nearly four years and was previously a game director on the Tomb Raider series at Crystal Dynamics, the same studio which is now collaborating on Perfect Dark.

The Perfect Dark director’s exit marks at least the second major design departure on the project in the past 12 months, potentially more than a year ahead of the reboot’s expected release.

In February 2021 Perfect Dark’s design director Drew Murray announced he had left The Initiative to re-join his former employer Insomniac Games. Murray cited personal reasons for his decision to leave.

Murray and Neuburger leave behind a veteran team of creatives. Established in 2018, The Initiative is led by Darrell Gallagher, the former Activision development boss and head of Crystal Dynamics, developer of the Tomb Raider series.

The Initiative has also hired a group of God of War designers for Perfect Dark. Chris O’Neill is Perfect Dark’s lead level designer, and The Initiative’s director of production, Brian Westergaard, also worked on God of War as senior managing producer.

Sean Slayback, who was most recently principal weapons designer at Respawn, is Perfect Dark’s lead systems designer. Slayback worked on Titanfall 1 & 2, plus various Call of Duty titles including Modern Warfare 2, and designed and implemented most weapons in Apex Legends.

Christine Thompson, who wrote the campaigns for Destiny 2 and Destiny: Rise of Iron, as well