Rumor: Perfect Dark Studio The Initiative Lost Half of its Core Development Team
Microsoft's purchase of Rare in 2002 gave the company access to tons of IP and franchises that formerly had an exclusive home on Nintendo consoles. Over the years, fans saw the reemergence of series like Battletoads, Killer Instinct, Banjo-Kazooie, and even a collection of classic titles in a complete package called Rare Replay. While Microsoft's first attempt at bringing super spy, Joanna Dark, back was largely met with mixed results, the company is giving Perfect Dark another chance with its newest first party studio, The Initiative.
Originally formed to create what Microsoft refers to as AAAA titles, The Initiative as had no shortage of top industry talent join its ranks. Located in Santa Monica, California, The Initiative has managed to attract developers from all over the games industry including talent who worked for studios like Naughty Dog, Irrational Games, Blizzard, Insomniac, and plenty more. Fan excitement rose even more when it was revealed at the 2020 Game Awards that The Initiative is working on a Perfect Dark reboot.
Rumor: Perfect Dark Reboot Could Be Live Service Game
However, the game has since gone dark and new reports indicate that the reason is due to turmoil within the company. Industry insiders are now saying that The Initiative has lost nearly half of its core Perfect Dark development team over the part year including most of the senior design team. Already, the studio has lost key members like game director Dan Neuburger, design director Drew Murray, lead level designer Chris O'Neill, and much more.
Apparently, many of these departures seems to align with the September 2021 reveal that Crystal Dynamics was brought in as a support studio to assist on the Perfect Dark project. According to sources,
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