To say that The Initiative, the Xbox developer behind the Perfect Dark reboot, has struggled over the last year would be an understatement. During this time, the team at the studio has lost more than half of its employees, with many in senior positions for design, writing, direction, animation, quality assurance, and more.
Why so many left the Perfect Dark reboot team
The reasons for the departures, according to interviews at VGC made with former staff and current management at The Initiative, are two-fold: the timing behind Crystal Dynamics being signed to co-develop the game in September 2021, and frustration by former members over the game’s development being too “top-down” by the studio leads.
The Initiative states that much of the trouble with staff retention has been the pandemic, with employees finding alternative employment at other video game companies. Studio head Darrell Gallagher says that “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.”
On the other side, former developers say that the lack of creative autonomy and sluggish progress were at fault, believing that Gallagher and Daniel Neuburger, who has since left The Initiative, held the reins too tightly on the rest of the team. Some said they were surprised Microsoft was so lenient with the game’s progress, while another said that it was frustrating to “feel like you can’t get through to people making the decisions that affect everyone.”
Both Gallagher and Neuburger were the studio head and game director at Crystal Dynamics, where they had a similar “top-down” approach, so it comes to no surprise that the Tomb Raider developer has come to the rescue of sorts to fill in the massive gaps left by the former team. As such, the disruption in the Perfect Dark reboot has many still at The Initiative believe that the game is at least several years away from release.
In other news, the Xbox Series consoles have overtaken the PS5 in sales in Europe, and Hogwarts Legacy will be receiving its own 20-minute State of Play presentation this Thursday.
