The connection between The Initiative and Crystal Dynamics goes back before this partnership as the Studio Head at The Initiative, Darrell Gallagher, spent 10 years at Crystal Dynamics, even serving as Studio Head. The studio was created to make AAA games, with this Perfect Dark project being the first game they will release. The Initiative was founded in 2018 as a part of Xbox Game Studio. The last new entry in the FPS franchise was Perfect Dark Zero in 2005, though the original Nintendo 64 title did get a remake in 2010 for the Xbox 360. This new Perfect Dark project was announced last year at the 2020 Game Awards with a cinematic trailer teasing the return of the series' iconic heroine, Joanna Dark. RELATED: ‘Halo Infinite’ Multiplayer Progression Explained by 343 Industries "We’re thrilled to add Perfect Dark to our development efforts alongside Marvel’s Avengers and Tomb Raider."
"We thrive on reimagining epic heroes and can’t wait to realize this first-person spy thriller together," the tweet read. We’re still early in development, but incredibly excited to use this unique opportunity to deliver on the vision for Perfect Dark!" Crystal Dynamics quote-tweeted the announcement saying that they are "thrilled" to be working with The Initiative. "The teams couldn’t pass up a chance to work together. "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." The Initiative wrote in their tweet. Announced on Twitter by The Initiative's official page, the new studio will be working closely with the Square Enix developer to create a new game in the much-beloved FPS series. The report's sources suggest that the large change in staff and the inclusion of Crystal Dynamics may well have triggered an internal soft reboot of Perfect Dark, and that a final release could well still be years away.The Initiative, the primary studio behind the previously announced next entry in the Perfect Dark franchise, has announced that Crystal Dynamics will be co-developing the game alongside them. “We wish all our former colleagues the very best, and I’m confident in the team we have in place, the new talent joining, and we can’t wait to share more with the fans.” In a statement to VGC, Gallagher (who remains as studio head at The Initiative) said, "In this journey, it’s not uncommon for there to be staffing changes, especially during a time of global upheaval over the last two years, and there’s plenty more work in front of us to deliver a fantastic Perfect Dark experience to our players. Gallagher and Neuburger were previously studio head and game director respectively at Crystal Dynamics, and It was hoped that a team familiar with their management methods would work well with them. VGC's sources claim that the culture problem was part of the reason for bringing Crystal Dynamics on board as a collaborator studio. “Making games is hard enough, let alone when you feel like you can’t get through to people making the decisions that affect everyone," one source said. The alleged result of this was a project that developed "painfully" slow and a lack of company culture. Staff apparently felt unheard by their seniors on issues such as development priorities, project planning, and team staffing. It was apparently built as a top-down hierarchy, starting with Neuburger and studio head Darrell Gallagher, who heavily dictated the creative decisions. Reasons given for staff departures predominantly include a feeling that the studio was not a collaborative place to work. VGC's interviews with former Initiative staff suggests that the departures have come "fast and furious", something that has impacted the momentum of the project. Additionally, VGC notes that two senior writers recently left, as well as the technical director, technical art director, lead gameplay engineer, lead animation, quality assurance lead, and more.
Game director Dan Neuburger appears to have left the team this year, and previous departures include design director Drew Murray, lead level designer Chris O’Neill, principal world builder Jolyon Myers, and several more from the core team. It notes that around 34 people have quit within the last year, including much of the senior design team. The report from VGC is complied from interviews with unnamed ex-Initiative employees and analysis of the studio's structure.
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