Xbox has reportedly cancelled its reboot of Perfect Dark and shut down developer The Initiative as a result. Xbox has been heavily criticized over the years for not being able to match PlayStation’s first-party output, despite having big marquee franchises like Halo and Gears of War. As a result, Xbox invested many billions of dollars in trying to play catch up by purchasing huge industry talent and franchises with Activision Blizzard (the publisher of Call of Duty and Diablo) and ZeniMax (the company responsible for Fallout and The Elder Scrolls). Now, after a rocky generation with the Xbox Series X|S, Xbox is once again carrying out mass layoffs.
A handful of Xbox projects have been reportedly cancelled including Rare’s Everwild and an unannounced MMO from the team behind The Elder Scrolls Online, but Windows Central and The Verge have both reported on one of the most devastating cancellations yet: Perfect Dark. The game was announced back in 2020 with new developer The Initiative helming the new reboot. The studio was comprised of industry veterans bringing the acclaimed franchise back into the spotlight as a premiere Xbox title. Unfortunately, it won’t see the light of day as Perfect Dark has been cancelled and the studio was shut down as well. Per Windows Central, the news was announced internally by Xbox executive Matt Booty.
“We have made the decision to stop development of Perfect Dark and Everwild as well as wind down several unannounced projects across our portfolio,” reads a partial quote from Booty’s leaked memo. “As part of this, we are closing one of our studios, The Initiative. These decisions, along with other changes across our teams, reflect a broader effort to adjust priorities and focus resources to set up our teams for greater success within a changing industry landscape. We did not make these choices lightly, as each project and team represent years of effort, imagination, and commitment.”
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