Perfect Dark was announced about 5 years ago as somewhat of a reboot of the beloved yet long-dormant science fiction shooter franchise and was slated for development by what Microsoft referred to as their first “AAAA” studio, The Initiative. A year later, it was announced that Tomb Raider developer Crystal Dynamics would be stepping in as co-developer on the project, but years passed and very little was revealed about the progress being made, or rather, not being made in this case.
Then out of the blue, last year they dropped a gameplay trailer for Perfect Dark at an Xbox showcase, revealing an immersive shooter in all its modernized glory. Fan opinions were split as eager fans were anticipating something groundbreaking after years of silence, but the game was reported to be in rough shape, and things only got worse from there to the detriment of the developers and the excited gamers.
Canceled back in July alongside Rare’s other long-in-development fantasy adventure Everwild during a wave of layoffs at Microsoft, the reboot of the first-person tactical espionage classic almost got a take two at Take-Two, but according to a recently released report, the Rare revival has gone to ruin once again. According to Bloomberg, Crystal Dynamics, previously working with the now shutdown Xbox Studio The Initiative to develop the reboot, could have actually continued work on the unreleased title.
Crystal Dynamics’ parent company, the Embracer Group, had spent the last few months since cancellation looking for a new publisher, and recently sought to work out a deal with Take-Two Interactive to finally make the return to the sorely missed series a reality by purchasing the game from Microsoft. The report goes on to state that the deal for Take-Two to take over the publishing and financial funding of Perfect Dark collapsed due to a disagreement over terms of ownership and just last week, Crystal Dynamics laid off more staff as a result of the deal falling through.
Here’s hoping that they wise up, find a suitable publisher, start by remaking the first few games to build hype and bring in revenue, and then use that money to fund the reboot! If only it were all that simple, but in reality, the gaming industry is far more complex. Maybe one day.
