Xbox Hoped Canceled Perfect Dark Reboot Would Capitalize on Lack of New Metal Gear Solid and James Bond Games, and Reportedly Could Have Been an Episodic Release

Xbox's now-canceled Perfect Dark reboot had been intended to capitalize connected a deficiency of upcoming "secret agent" genre games, specified arsenic caller entries successful the Metal Gear Solid oregon James Bond franchises.

Of course, caller games successful the Metal Gear Solid and James Bond bid are present upon us, with Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater retired now, and Hitman developer IO Interactive's 007: First Light owed adjacent March.

The item is 1 of galore shared successful a caller MP1st study connected Microsoft's long-held plans to revive the Perfect Dark series. Sadly, the game's improvement was ditched and Xbox workplace The Initiative was unopen down successful July this year, arsenic portion of a devastating question of Microsoft cuts.

According to interior improvement documentation, Microsoft's originative imaginativeness for Perfect Dark was chiefly inspired by the HBO bid Westworld, portion areas of the crippled specified arsenic the playable "vertical slice" shown publically were portion of the game's "Season 1."

This isn't the archetypal clip we've heard of episodic merchandise plans for Perfect Dark. Back successful 2023, IGN's heavy dive into the game's troubled improvement suggested the task was inactive respective years distant from launching, and adjacent past was leaning towards a communicative told episodically implicit time.

Other details from the study notation a cardinal adrenaline strategy which would person allowed players to either heal, summation harm dealt oregon trim incoming damage. The quality to absorption and dilatory down clip to dodge bullets was besides being worked upon.

Earlier this month, IGN and Bloomberg some reported that a woody to prevention Perfect Dark from its canceled destiny was astir struck, with Microsoft successful talks with Grand Theft Auto steadfast Take-Two — until the woody fell through.

In July, a developer who worked connected the Perfect Dark reboot addressed the assertion that past year's gameplay demo was "fake," and said the glimpse was a vertical portion of the task moving "in-engine."

In a memo shared with affected unit regarding Xbox's cuts, and the cancelation of some Perfect Dark and long-gestating Rare task Everwild, Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer talked of “focusing connected strategical maturation areas” and added that “our platform, hardware, and crippled roadmap person ne'er looked stronger."

"The occurrence we're seeing presently is based connected pugnacious decisions we've made previously," Spencer said astatine the time. "We indispensable marque choices present for continued occurrence successful aboriginal years and a cardinal portion of that strategy is the subject to prioritize the strongest opportunities.”

Tom Phillips is IGN's News Editor. You tin scope Tom astatine [email protected] oregon find him connected Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social