Xbox Cancels That Cool Looking Perfect Dark Reboot

Xbox’s Perfect Dark reboot, announced back in 2020, has reportedly been canceled as part of the ongoing layoffs at Microsoft. The studio developing the game has reportedly been shut down, too.

On July 2, Windows Central obtained an internal email to staff from Xbox Game Studios head Matt Booty. In the email, Booty confirmed that Perfect Dark and other projects were being canceled. He also confirmed that The Initiative, the team behind the Perfect Dark reboot, was being shut down.

“We have made the decision to stop development of Perfect Dark and Everwild as well as wind down several unannounced projects across our portfolio. As part of this, we are closing one of our studios, The Initiative,” said Booty.

“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.”

Booty told staff that if they were “directly affected” by the layoffs and studio shutdown, they could apply for other roles within Xbox and that HR would “provide support.”

The cancellation is part of a larger round of layoffs at Microsoft. Around 9,000 people are reportedly losing their jobs, with many Xbox employees affected by the cuts. Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer explained in a memo to staff that the layoffs “end or decrease work in certain areas of the business and follow Microsoft’s lead in removing layers of management to increase agility and effectiveness.”

Perfect Dark was first revealed via a short teaser trailer back in December 2020. It was set to be a reboot of the original N64 game. The new Perfect Dark was being developed by The Initiative, a studio located in Santa Monica that was created by Xbox in 2018. About a year after its first teaser, it was announced that Crystal Dynamics was helping develop the Perfect Dark reboot. In 2023, an IGN report claimed that development on Perfect Dark was a bit of a mess, due to poor management and creative differences between the teams. At one point, it restarted development and shifted to Unreal Engine 5.

Kotaku has reached out to Xbox for more information.

In 2024, Xbox revealed the first gameplay for Perfect Dark, and the response was mostly positive. The game looked great, with gorgeous visuals, a slick art style, and gameplay that seemed like a combination of Deus Ex, Dying Light, and the old Perfect Dark games. However, the gameplay trailer didn’t include a release date. And now it seems this cool-looking reboot won’t ever see the light of day.