Adam McDonald, a level designer who worked on the 2024 version of the game, said the demo was made using the game engine and could be played. It wasn’t representative of the final product. But, it was a vertical slice, and everything we saw in the trailer was in-engine.
Rare's first-person shooter, Perfect Dark, has been fully decompiled, and a native PC port with multiplayer support is now available.
I remember getting this at launch on the Nintendo 64 and even though it looked like GoldenEye, it wasn't too good to play. Plain boring if you ask me. To this day, I still don't understand the hype.
It's literally built on the GoldenEye engine.
You're going to have to explain how you think GoldenEye feels good to play, but Perfect Dark doesn't.
Man there is no way in the world that two real people agree with what you just said. This is one of the worst opinions I've ever seen on N4G.
Take-Two was reportedly in discussions to save Xbox’s canceled Perfect Dark reboot, but negotiations recently collapsed over details of a potential deal.
So, unsolved questions about the long-term ownership of the IP were responsible for the deal to collapse.
Interesting.
- Microsoft tells the studios developing the game they can look for funding elsewhere
- The studios' heads spend two months talking to different parties till they land a deal with Take-Two to fund and publish the game
- Take-Two gets in talk with Microsoft about the franchise
- Microsoft says, "Nah, you either fund and publish OUR game for us, or we'd shelf it and let the IP rot forever"
.
.
.
- Profit?
I doubt Microsoft will do anything with this IP anymore. It’s basically a late stage n64 game made by rare when they were at their height. It was good for n64 standards. The 360 game was kinda meh. Now it will probably be shelfed forever.
Hmm have someone else make a game on your franchise and make money. Or just have an unused IP sit in limbo collect dust and not make money. Or make a little bit of money releasing the game in a collection. Microsoft should be selling off some of the older IP's to people who will do something with them.
Companies don’t generally readily sell off IPs. MS would have likely only granted Take two a license. Even when Microsoft sold Tango Games, they kept most of the IPs, and did not fully sell off the Hi-Fi Rush IP to Krafton.
No, in Kraftons statements they refer to “rights to” the IP not “ownership of” of Hi-Fi Rush.
Microsoft is closing down The Initiative, after 7 years. The partnership with Crystal Dynamics will end, and "Perfect Dark" will be cancelled.
Of all the studios Perfect Dark is the one? Screw MS. 3T$ trash garbage.
Everwild is canceled and Zenimax saw cuts as well as their new IP project getting canceled.
Told y'all I was expecting the worst.
You know I'm no fan of MS/Xbox never have, never will, so don't take my comment as an opportunity for me to troll on them but this was coming a long time ago, I said a long while back that if hey had to pick up their bags and call it a day they will do it in a hear beat (meaning getting out of the gaming space or becoming 3rd party publisher) they don't care because MS has trillions in the bank. They're planning a ''slow exit'' just to ''minimize'' the backlash from everyone including their fanbase.
With the logic anyone who cancels projects are going under? How many games have Sony cancelled? Yet nobody ever says they're slowly exiting anything. Doesn't matter if it's a LS or not. Canceled games are still cancelled games.
What makes this infuriating is Perfect Dark was highly anticipated title now it's gone.
Feels like the whole thing was just smoke and mirrors. A long protracted PR stunt. Remember this was the first AAAA studio. That extra 'A' should have been a warning sign. And then Crystal was some how developing it... you know why? Because there is no such thing as The Initiative and there never was. Micorosft announced it before it was actually a real funcitonal studio.
But more to your point I agree with you. 'Everything and your Mother is an Xbox' campaign is another PR stunt. They just don't want to come out and say... look we don't want to make hardware anymore. Its proof that they do acutally care about what their fanbase thinks, but more correctly, show how dedicated they are to their PR message.
Seriously talking about an Xbox studio closing and people bring up Playstations canceled projects. Seriously can't stay on topic without the shade. Lol
@Lightning, nobody says Sony is going under because they can actually sell both consoles and games. They're making plenty of money. MS on the other hand is only selling games while losing money on hardware.
System Shock 3 cancelled, Deus Ex cancelled, Perfect Dark cancelled
.... are we never getting a new high profile immersive sim in future?
(Still not sure how immersive Judas will be)
Majorly GaaS and Soulslike nowadays ...
Thank god atleast horror genre has made a good comeback.
I get the sentiment, but it's a logical move since MS plans to invest $80 billion in AI. They likely prioritized studios without games expected in the next two years, which is why Turn 10 was impacted more than Playground Games, as Forza is expected to have Horizon sequels next year.
Still, it sucks and highlights how AI can pose a risk to workers.
@Aloy
The layoffs were not related to Xbox performance; they were part of a broader cost-cutting measure across all of Microsoft to free up funds for investment. The gaming division is a relatively small contributor to revenue compared to Microsoft's computer solutions. They explicitly stated their intention to invest heavily in AI, similar to companies like Meta and OpenAI. https://www.investopedia.co...
Replies(1)I said calling "THIS" out, not "THEM". You're always ready to fight...
Just take the compliment.
@sonic: “ Where's @Obscure_Observer to defend Microsoft 😂”
He’s making a new account he’ll be here within the hour 🤷🏿
Perfect dark was a good classic it pains me to see it gone for now, I hope in a few years after they re re re rethink their approach and release a remake of the original for all consoles and it makes MONEY 💰 💰 they’ll approve a new game 🤷🏿
He’s not a real person. He’s a user to raise engagement. You have to come back to see where he is, what user he goes by, etc. A real gamer would spend more time gaming than making up hundreds of email and n4g accounts to ‘support the mission’
@Lightning77
“ With the logic anyone who cancels projects are going under? How many games have Sony cancelled? Yet nobody ever says they're slowly exiting anything.”
Are you serious right now? It couldn’t be more evident, from bringing their best IPs over to the competition, to cutting away jobs, cancelling projects, and even making their main focus streaming? How many times does the snake have to bite you in the face, man?
and the worst has happened, with probably more to come. Brace yourself
at this point they need to just rip the band-aid off... come clean about their entire gaming direction. Not that it would change how people think, but it would stop all the guess work of what could happen next.
I feel like there are two dimensions to this: the game development and the console business
Game development they came clean with I think- no more exclusives, so just like EA/Ubi, goal is to make great games and sell them. Since this is where we're hearing about the cuts, I'm guessing they're not turning great profits there
Console business I feel like they haven't come clean on yet, but on the flip side I haven't heard of any cuts in the hardware division yet so who knows.
@crazyCoconuts
What if, and just hear me out... Xbox doesn't have a HW division to cut anymore?
I’ve genuinely lost hope in gaming—not because the medium lacks potential, but because the industry is being hollowed out from the inside.
At the center of the problem are hedge funds, private equity firms, and short-term investors who have no interest in creativity, quality, or the joy games can bring. They don’t care if a game is fun or meaningful—only that revenue grows every quarter, no matter the human or artistic cost. That’s why, like clockwork, companies lay off hundreds of employees right before investor calls: to massage the numbers and make profits look healthier by cutting costs. It’s all about optics—morale, innovation, and talent are just collateral damage.
But the uncomfortable truth is: we, the gamers, have enabled this. We’ve defended awful practices because we liked the game, or because “it’s my money, my hobby.” We excused microtransactions as “just cosmetic.” We justified broken games by saying, “the devs worked hard.” And while we did that, publishers took note—and pushed further.
We let them turn early access into a luxury product. Games used to launch on Tuesdays for everyone. Now, that same Tuesday access costs you $30 more, while the standard edition is pushed to Friday. A clever trick to sell the same experience we once got without a premium.
We said “nobody’s forcing you to buy microtransactions,” and now they’ve found their way into single-player games. We’ve normalized $70 and $80 price tags just five years after the jump from $60, after 15 years of stability. Some titles, like GTA VI, may break the $100 barrier—and many will follow. Not because they have to, but because they know we’ll still buy in.
The industry isn't broken because publishers are greedy. Greed has always existed. It's broken because the people who supposedly love games—us—have shown little resistance. We’ve refused to draw a line, to say “enough.” So, why would they stop?
Until we value quality over brand loyalty, and principles over personal preference, nothing changes. And at this rate, we’ll keep paying more—for less.
In 8 years, The Initiative made zero games.
Not surprising, they got closed down.
Yikes.. I did not not see that coming.
What’s going on with Xbox?
People were hyped for Perfect Dark.
Of all projects that could've been cancelled .... Perfect Dark seemed the least logical choice.
Own Ip and had a great gameplay showcase ... it was also a rare return to the immersive genre (unique nowadays)
Everwild, Contraband ~ is understandable
All the uniqueness axed just coz of the aftermath of the Acti-Bliz deal. They shouldn't have bet so much on CoD.
"The game(deal) was rigged from the start."
It looks like whatever division is making a loss or has no chance of making a profit, then Microsoft is being financially strict in approach and cutting the risks of making more losses. What does this mean for the next Xbox hardware platform if it costs billions to launch a new console platform at a loss, and take years to recoup the costs? In this new financially frugal climate I suspect Microsoft manufacturing its own new console is now too high a cost for Microsoft to bear - the next mainline Xbox will likely be manufactured by third-parties.
The game been stuck in development hell. Im not just pissed off at MS but im pissed at the studio for not having the game ready by now. I would've thought MS would push the game out even if it wasn't ready. To at least gain some money off it before canceling
They really are the cancer of gaming.
Disruptive, absorbing, destructive.
They never could compete on the same playing field, they could only try to buy the game. They're like locusts, devouring crops others have sown. They are a plague.
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Management at the initiative always reported to be rocky. I’d wonder if the partnership with the Crystal Dynamics was inefficient, leading to the project being canceled.
Who cares....
It was painfully obvious though.
And they couldn’t pass it off to any other studio!? This is reminding me of Scalebound and precisely one of the biggest issues I have with this damn company. You let sh*t like Red Fall and Crack Down 3 go through, but can the games so many find interesting, because… well, hell. I don’t even know. They need a real shift in management and have actual people running the show that have a finger on the pulse of gamers.
Honestly, what's worse?
Cancelling a game that is in a playable state and that Phil thinks and says is going along well, while getting hopes up, or cancelling a game with no direction and no real gameplay that is going along terribly?
I think a lot would argue the former