Matt Booty Talks Fable and Perfect Dark Reboots, Halo Infinite 'Falling Short,' in New Interview

ign.com:

Xbox is still working on rebooting some of its classic series', like Perfect Dark and Fable, and has acknowledged how another stumbled along the way with Halo Infinite.

In an interview with the Friends Per Second podcast, head of Xbox Game Studios' Matt Booty touched on some of the long-absent reboots, explaining timelines, partnerships, and obstacles. When asked about Perfect Dark and leadership changes on the project, the Xbox boss explained their partnership with Crystal Dynamics.

Booty referred to developer The Initiative and Crystal Dynamics’ efforts on Perfect Dark as “co-development,” and made it clear they’re an “equal partner in the development.” That is to say, Crystal Dynamics isn’t on board for just the outsourcing of assets or other pieces of the project.

“It hasn’t been so much leadership changes as it has been building a studio,” Booty said. “I think one of the most difficult things these last few years has been finalizing a big game on the scale of a Halo or Battlefield during the conditions that we’ve had.”

Those conditions Booty references are changes to studio work due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Xbox head noted they’ve tried several new methods around workflow and attracting talent since it began. He also stated this sort of “tight co-development” is something we’ll see more of in the future.

When asked about Fable, GameSpot noted Booty’s praise for developer Playground Games. It’s a studio primarily known for its racing titles, like the Forza Horizon series, but the Xbox boss noted Playground brings “high craft, high quality, high attention to detail” to projects. He said the team had “a particular passion for the IP,” and they “understand what the heart and soul of Fable is about and how they can