The Game Awards are often defined as much by the game trailers and teasers that they reveal as much as they're defined by the awards given out. Studios of all kinds love to announce important new games at The Game Awards, knowing that fans and critics from all areas of the industry will be watching. TGA 2021 was defined by some exciting continuations of beloved franchises, including Alan Wake 2 and Sonic Frontiers, while last year's Game Awards partially starred a major franchise reboot: Perfect Dark. For a long time, rumors had floated around that a new Perfect Dark game was in the works, so last year's reveal was a big deal.
Unfortunately, that's still the only thing that fans have seen from Perfect Dark. Xbox Game Studios newcomer The Initiative hasn't released any new teasers or trailers since the game's announcement. Fans know that Crystal Dynamics is supporting The Initiative and that the movement and action of spy movies will inspire the Perfect Dark reboot, but otherwise, The Initiative has remained silent. While the lack of information isn't necessarily cause for concern, it's still strange. Considering the amount of time since the game's reveal and how much work The Initiative has already done, Perfect Dark ought to have more publicity by now.
Perfect Dark's Lingering Absence
Perfect Dark is only one of many games getting announced well before release lately. It seems the game industry has shifted toward favoring early game reveals. Bethesda announced The Elder Scrolls 6 and Starfield three years ago, for instance, and neither game has released yet. Other Microsoft titles announced long before their release include Fable and Avowed, both of which have eluded fans. Still, although Perfect Dark is only one of many games announced early, The Initiative hasn't said much about the game even though it's had a full year to break the pattern.
In a way, Perfect Dark is arguably more of a mystery than some of its Xbox Game Studios peers. Playground Games hasn't provided many details about Fable, but between a variety of new Fable developers and Phil Spencer's comments on its release, Fable has arguably spent more time in the public eye than Perfect Dark. Similarly, although Obsidian Entertainment hasn't discussed Avowed much, its place in the Pillars of Eternity universe and multiple comments on its gameplay have given Avowed some notable attention. In contrast, Perfect Dark has managed to stay largely under wraps throughout 2021.
What's especially strange about Perfect Dark's silence is that the game has seemingly been playable this entire time. In September 2020, Perfect Dark's former design director Drew Murray tweeted about his daughter playing The Initiative's game, which was still a secret at the time. That would suggest that Perfect Dark has been playable for a year and a half, and yet The Initiative hasn't shown fans any gameplay yet. It's odd to think that Perfect Dark may have presentable elements at this point, but The Initiative just hasn't presented them. If the game is already that far along in development, then why has it remained behind closed doors?
A New Year for Perfect Dark
With any luck, 2022 will deliver a change of fortune for Perfect Dark fans. Maybe the game simply does need a little more polish right now, meaning Microsoft will focus publicity on more current games like Halo Infinite before shifting its attention to games like Perfect Dark sometime next year. A recent GeForce Now leak suggested that Perfect Dark might release in December 2022, so it wouldn't be out of the question if The Initiative and Microsoft started releasing information about Perfect Dark in the next few months. Perfect Dark has remained hidden for much longer than fans would like, but ideally that means the wait for the game will be over sooner rather than later.
Perfect Dark is in development.