Perfect Dark Gets New Update From Xbox Executive

An Xbox executive has offered an update on Perfect Dark, a reboot of Rare's iconic shooter. Perfect Dark was officially announced in 2020 after a new studio known as The Initiative was formed in 2018. The studio is comprised of veterans from across the gaming industry, ensuring only the best of the best are working on this title. Xbox has referred to the game as an "AAAA" title, as opposed to the normal "AAA" label used for big budget titles. As of right now, no one has any idea what that even means or how it could possibly live up to such a label. The game has been quiet since its initial reveal, leaving some to question what state is in. The only significant news to come out of Perfect Dark is that Crystal Dynamics is now helping out on the project following rumors of painfully slow development progress and large waves of staff departures, something some speculated to mean the game was in rough shape.

However, Xbox Game Studios head Matt Booty stated at a PAX West 2022 panel (via VGC) that Crystal Dynamics coming on to the project signals anything but trouble, instead highlighting the way game development is changing. Booty stated that video game development is becoming more and more complicated and that multiple Microsoft titles have now utilized the help of other studios to get them to the finish line.

"How we make games is evolving," Booty said. "The idea of a single team under one roof really doesn't happen that often anymore. I'll use an example – our Perfect Dark team down in Santa Monica, The Initiative. So, we just did this big partnership with Crystal Dynamics, and I read online, 'oh, this must mean there's a problem or something' – it's quite the opposite, right? You've got this veteran team at Crystal Dynamics, a big AAA team with over 100 people that becomes available. Of course we want to work with them, particularly if they've made a game like that before."

As of right now, it's unclear when Perfect Dark will release. Xbox announced a lot of games in 2020 that have been extremely quiet since their reveals. Fans are still anxiously awaiting Fable and Avowed in addition to other titles like The Elder Scrolls VI which are much further off. Hopefully, we'll start to hear more on these games next year, but Xbox still seems confident in Perfect Dark despite the rumors and speculation.