Fans have anxiously been awaiting news regarding Xbox's reboot of the Perfect Dark franchise, announced during The Game Awards 2020. While there is an update regarding Perfect Dark developer The Initiative, it's not going to be the news Perfect Dark fans were hoping for. A new report details significant turnover at The Initiative, including major roles at the company like Perfect Dark's game director, design director, director of narrative, technical director, and many other key positions.The report into The Initiative's turnover comes from Video Games Chronicle, which says that around 36 employees have left the studio over the past year according to an analysis of LinkedIn profile updates. For some perspective, LinkedIn currently lists just 50 people as employed by The Initiative, with 12 of them having been hired over the same time period. The turnover paints a bleak picture of the state of The Initiative and its leadership, as well as the direction of Perfect Dark.As noted, the most prominent departures from The Initiative include several key positions. Daniel Neuburger, previously a game director at Crystal Dynamics for the Tomb Raider franchise, left the company in February after over three and a half years with The Initiative. Both Blake Fischer, director of narrative, and Christine Thompson, narrative lead, left The Initiative in mid-2021. William Archbell, The Initiative's technical director, as well as seven other engineers all left between April and August 2021. The art team also saw significant departures, with 11 teammates leaving in the past 12 months.
Comments from former employees describe a frustrating top-down direction headed by The Initiative's studio head, Darrell Gallagher, and now former game director Daniel Neuburger. This studio structure left employees feeling unheard on subjects including "development priorities, project planning, and team staffing." All employees were described as saying Microsoft was very "lenient" over the lack of development progress, instead focusing on internal issues including the lack of a "solid company culture."
As has been previously reported, The Initiative announced mid-2021 that it would be partnering with Crystal Dynamics for the development of Perfect Dark. At the time, The Initiative described the situation as an opportunity it "couldn't pass up." This latest update indicates that the partnership may have been necessary given The Initiative's significant turnover.
What this means for Perfect Dark isn't clear. Perfect Dark may have changed dramatically over the past 12 months, or it may not have changed at all. Bringing in Crystal Dynamics may have even led the teams to start development over. Regardless, it's unlikely that the game will be ready to be shared publicly any time soon.
Perfect Dark is currently in development.
Source: Video Games Chronicle