Summary
In-development footage of the Perfect Dark reboot from The Initiative, which Microsoft cancelled as part of their mass layoffs in July last year, has reportedly been uncovered. It shows off a couple of minutes worth of what looks to be texting of shooting and explosion mechanics, plus a chase on foot through a facility that’s falling apart. The alleged footage, published by MP1ST, appears to have been unearthed via a VFX artist’s portfolio. In line with that, a vast chunk of its two minute or so runtime is dedicated to showing off clips of what happens if you fire guns at various surfaces and objects, including fruit props and explosive containers. Some of this testing takes place in areas where the walls have been left blank, but there are decent looks offered at some fleshed out environments. The alleged footage begins with a walk past what looks like a larger server or generator radiating energy, while midway through a chase on foot through a collapsing factory is shown. The latter looks like it may have been part of a mission dubbed ‘Most Wanted’, with protagonist Joanna Dark pursuing someone named Carrington. According to a report from Bloomberg last year, a potential deal to revive the Perfect Dark reboot following Microsoft’s call to cancel it fell through. Said deal would, it’s claimed, have seen Rockstar Games parent company Take-Two step in to provide funding and take over publishing duties. The report cited the inability of the various sides to agree terms on what would happen with the Perfect Dark series’ long-term ownership as a factor in the negotiations ending without hands being shaken. Layoffs at Crystal Dynamics, who were working on the reboot alongside The Initiative, came not long after the cancellation was set in stone. Microsoft have gone on to lay off more staff in two waves thus far in 2026. The initial mass cuts saw Psychonauts devs Double Fine, State of Decay makers Undead Labs, South of Midnight makers Compulsion, Senua developers Ninja Theory, and Dishonored devs Arkane part ways with Xbox. The first three have all ended up walking the tough path of going independent, while negotiations over Arkane’s future are ongoing. Ninja Theory appear to have begun laying off staff as part of a planned closure, after multiple deals to acquire them fell through. Read this next
Doom devs id Software were reportedly kicking around ideas for a new Perfect Dark, a John Wick-inspired game, and multiplayer demonslaying prior to layoffs - Xbox’s cancelled Perfect Dark reboot could reportedly have been “revived”, but talks over Take-Two publishing it fell through - Tomb Raider developers Crystal Dynamics lay off more staff, say the series’ future is “unaffected”