The Perfect Dark remake was first announced by The Initiative in 2020, at the annual Game awards that year - and we haven't heard much ever since. Now, the first peep about the project let slip, and it's a pretty major announcement. The Initiative is teaming up with Crystal Dynamics, the studio behind the Tomb Raider reboot and Marvel's Avengers.
Perfect Dark may be better known among modern gamers as an IP inherently linked to Microsoft with Perfect Dark Zero being an Xbox 360 launch title, but the series has roots reaching further back. The original Perfect Dark was developed by Rare for the Nintendo 64, famously requiring an Expansion Pak.
Rare was purchased by Microsoft which led to Perfect Dark Zero being an exclusive launch title on the Xbox 360, and subsequently a 2010 remaster of Perfect Dark was also released on the Xbox. Ever since Rare's acquisition, the IP was considered to be an Xbox hallmark.
Perfect Dark update! We are partnering with Crystal Dynamics, the world class team behind character-driven games such as Tomb Raider, to bring this first-person spy thriller to a new generation. pic.twitter.com/EiqjU99wMa
— TheInitiative (@TheInitiative) September 24, 2021
Now, the game is getting a full-on remake instead of just a remaster. The Initiative, a development team within Xbox Game Studios, just revealed that they are teaming up with Crystal Dynamics to bring us the remake. Incidentally, The Initiative is headed by Darrell Gallagher who was formerly head of Crystal Dynamics - and game director Daniel Neuburger too was similarly game director on the Tomb Raider reboot.
The teams couldn’t pass up a chance to work together. We’re still early in development, but incredibly excited to use this unique opportunity to deliver on the vision for Perfect Dark!
Since the teams are so well acquainted and have a history, cooperation shouldn't prove to be difficult. Either way, the Perfect Dark remake is still very early on in development, so after this studio announcement we expect radio silence to be turned back on for a good long while.
For those unfamiliar with the original, Perfect Dark followed protagonist Joanna Dark, fighting to stop an extraterrestrial conspiracy with a shadowy tech corporation behind it all. The game launched with a campaign mode as well as multiplayer, though some features from the latter were cut. Ultimately, Perfect Dark launched to rave reviews and was one of the most technically impressive N64 titles of the time, with many publications listing it on best games lists to this day.
We imagine we'll be hearing more about the Perfect Dark remake in a couple of months - or more - as development has time to get ahead.
