The Perfect Dark reboot might not be ready until 2026

Crystal Dynamics stepped in to fill the gap left by Certain Affinity. This, however, led to a new set of complications.

Upon the studio's entry at the time, Crystal Dynamics reportedly found the project to be "a bit of a mess," requiring more assistance than initially anticipated. This necessitated another overhaul of the game even though it had already spent three years in development. The co-development process, fraught with conflicts, lack of clear vision, and staff departures, resulted in a cycle of rejected ideas and prototypes which only added to the frustration.

While the co-development issues created hiccups, Xbox Game Studios boss, Matt Booty, believes this is the ideal route in modern game development. Despite initial struggles, the team at Crystal Dynamics is said to have found its rhythm, with Perfect Dark steadily developing under their guidance.

Another significant change in Perfect Dark's development was the transition to Unreal Engine 5 last year. This move required the project to be started afresh, essentially overwriting the past three years of progress. However, it also marked a turning point in the game's development trajectory, bringing a sense of direction and progress that had been previously lacking.

Interestingly, Perfect Dark's troubles are not unique in Microsoft's roster. Major Xbox titles like Everwild, State Of Decay 3, and Contraband have similarly struggled with development issues, resulting in their conspicuous absence from the recent Microsoft showcase.

Despite the setbacks, progress is reportedly being made. The current build is said to focus on narrative-driven first-person shooting, with a blend of combat, espionage, spy gadgets, and experimental movement tech. There's even talk of Perfect Dark potentially adopting an episodic release format, though this remains speculative at this stage.

The Perfect Dark reboot could've taken advantage of a severe dearth in spy games in recent years, but, with the way things are, it might be out roughly around the same time another spy game, this time IO Interactive's James Bond project, comes out.

However, the worst-case scenario is the Perfect Dark reboot will join The Elder Scrolls 6 in coming out sometime in 2028 - right around the same time the next Xbox comes out.