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Perfect Dark: Xbox Release Date, Leaks, Latest News, and Everything We Know So Far

Perfect Dark: Xbox Release Date, Leaks, Latest News, and Everything We Know So Far

Perfect Dark was originally a shooter from Rare on the N64, and after incredible critical acclaim, received a follow-up (Perfect Dark Zero) on Xbox 360 as a launch title for Microsoft’s second console.

Since 2005 though, the celebrated spy series has remained largely dormant, but thankfully, Joanna Dark is set to return, with new Xbox studio The Initiative officially at the helm. In a statement, The Initiative studio head Darrell Gallagher said the new game will be a secret agent thriller set in a near-future world.

But what else has the studio revealed about this exciting next entry in the series? Keep reading for everything you need to know.

18 Aug Update - Checked for the latest Perfect Dark news. All the most recent updates are found just below.

Latest News

All the latest news and updates on Perfect Dark can be found just below in the dropdowns. Be sure to bookmark this page to keep up to speed on the latest goings-on.

June 15, 2022 - The long wait continues

So we got zero news about Perfect Dark from Microsoft’s Xbox Bethesda Showcase.

What was interesting is that of all the games shown during the 95-minute conference, all of them were promised to release in the next 12 months.

We suspect that Gamescom in August will also be focused purely on games coming in the next few months so we doubt we’ll hear anything about Perfect Dark until next year at E3.

Hopefully, we’re wrong, but we suspect that could be the case at least in an official capacity.

June 6, 2022 - Xbox Confirms Extended Showcase on June 14

Microsoft was already set to hold an Xbox Games Showcase together with Bethesda on Sunday, June 12. However, they’ve now announced an Extended stream which is set to take place on June 14 and last roughly 90 minutes.

According to a blog post from Microsoft, the company will “share new trailers, take deeper looks at the news from the Xbox & Bethesda Games Showcase and speak with some of your favourite game creators”.

Let’s hope that includes a look at the new Perfect Dark!

May 2 - Crystal Dynamics will still co-develop Perfect Dark, despite sale to Embracer

Earlier this week Square-Enix sold a number of western studios, including Crystal Dynamics, to the Embracer group. According to a new tweet by The Initiative, however, it appears that Crystal Dynamics will continue to work on the game following the acquisition.

“We’re excited to see Crystal Dynamics take these next steps with their studio,” it said. “Our teams have made great progress in building Perfect Dark together as co-development partners, and we will be continuing this work with them in their next chapter.”

April 28, 2022 - Xbox Showcase confirmed for June

Microsoft has announced plans to host an E3-style Xbox and Bethesda Games Showcase on Sunday, June 12.

“This show will feature amazing titles coming from Xbox Game Studios, Bethesda, and our partners around the world,” it said.

Will Perfect Dark make an appearance? Here’s hoping.

March 15, 2022 - ‘fast and furious’ exits from Xbox’s Perfect Dark studio

As reported by VGC (Video Games Chronicle), almost half of the core development team at The Initiative have quit in the past year.

Interviews with multiple former senior developers cited a lack of creative autonomy and slow development progress as the reason for their departures, and described the wave of exits as “fast and furious” with project momentum said to be “heavily affected”.

September 24 - Crystal Dynamics to help develop Perfect Dark

Xbox has signed up Marvel’s Avengers and Tomb Raider developer Crystal Dynamics to help develop its Perfect Dark reboot. The person in charge of the Perfect Dark project, game director Daniel Neuburger, was also previously game director on the Tomb Raider series.

“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,” The Initiative said on Twitter.

July 6, 2021 - Xbox talks up return of Joanna Dark

Speaking on IGN’s Podcast Unlocked, Head of Xbox Phil Spencer has been discussing the return of Joanna Dark and what she brings to the Xbox stable of characters.

“I think it’s awesome that 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]. I think Joanna offers a lot of modern opportunities that I love to see the team focusing on, having a strong protagonist.”

Release Date

The game is still in very early development and at the time of writing there is no specific release date for the game. There’s not even a release window. Given this we certainly don’t expect the game to arrive before 2024.

VentureBeat had initially suggested that Xbox had planned to launch the game in 2023, along with the likes of Everwild, Fable, Avowed, and a few more exclusives.

However, GamesIndustry.biz’s Christopher Dring has since suggested on VGC’s ‘Off The Record’ podcast that a release could be further away that anticipated.

“Those games that they [Microsoft] announced – Everwild, Perfect Dark, Fable – are so far away,” Dring explained. “As in, there might even be a new Xbox (a mid-tier upgrade) by the time those games come out.”

Trailer

So far there’s only been one trailer released for Xbox’s Perfect Dark reboot and it doesn’t tell us a whole lot about the game. For those who fancy a look at the cinematic, have a watch below: