Shortly after Microsoft launched the Xbox Series X|S last year, it announced Perfect Dark, an attempt to revive the cult classic Nintendo 64 shooter. Little is known about the revival save that it will be a reboot by The Initiative, a new studio headed by veteran Darrell Gallagher, but Xbox boss Phil Spencer offered some insight into Microsoft’s thinking in reviving the series more than 20 years after its original release.
According to Spencer in an interview with Podcast Unlocked for its 500th episode, the decision to revive Perfect Dark was made before Gallagher even joined Xbox. Gallagher has a long history in the games industry, having served as the head of development at publishers including Activision and Crystal Dynamics. Spencer says that Xbox pitched Gallagher on multiple opportunities, one of them being the opportunity to revive Rare’s Nintendo 64 classic.
“Obviously [Gallagher] had a great track record at [Crystal Dynamics], and the work that he had done with Warcraft and the re-imagining of Tomb Raider. So when we were looking at different opportunities, one that we brought up was Joanna and Perfect Dark, and it was something that he was excited about in the end,” Spencer says.
According to Spencer, a key consideration in reviving Perfect Dark is being able to feature a game with a female protagonist. “I think it’s awesome for us. We can focus on a female protagonist in our lineup. We don’t have a lot of that in our first-party [lineup].”
This has been changing in recent years. For example, Gears 5’s hero is Kait Diaz, who has succeeded Marcus Fenix as arguably the franchise’s main protagonist. Hellblade, a franchise recently acquired alongside Ninja Theory, is another example. Nevertheless, Spencer says Xbox sees an opportunity to continue building out its first-party catalog on that front. “I think Joanna offers a lot of modern opportunities that I love to see the team kind of focusing on, having a strong protagonist.”
As for Gallagher, Spencer says that working on Perfect Dark wasn’t an ultimatum, “It didn’t have to be, ‘Hey Darrell, come and do Perfect Dark or don’t come to Microsoft.'” But ultimately, The Initiative and Xbox opted to go forward with the new game together, and its team was formed with that goal in mind.
Microsoft announced Perfect Dark at The Game Awards in late 2020. Like the original, it will be a “secret agent thriller set in a near-future world,” but otherwise Microsoft and The Initiative have remained tight-lipped about the revival. The original game was released on the Nintendo 64 in 2000 and was followed by an Xbox 360 sequel in 2005, which received lukewarm reviews.
It is the first game to be developed by The Initiative, a Santa Monica-based studio formed in 2018. No release date yet, but it is rumored to be set for a 2023 launch.
Kat Bailey is a Senior News Editor at IGN.
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