‘Perfect Dark’ studio The Initiative reportedly facing “fast and furious” departures and slow progress
nme.comThe Initiative, the studio working on a reboot of Perfect Dark, is facing significantly high turnover and issues with slow progress.As reported by VGC, as many as half of Perfect Dark‘s core development team have quit The Initiative over the last year.VGC reports that this includes “most” of The Initiative’s senior design team.
Last week, it was discovered that Dan Neuburger – game director at The Initiative – was one of the senior members that left.Departures include two senior system designers, a lead level designer, two senior writers, a design director, and more.The report claims that from speaking to several senior developers, “a lack of creative autonomy and slow development progress” were attributed to this departure.
The former employees claimed that there was a “fast and furious” series of exits, and added that the momentum of Perfect Dark‘s development had been “heavily affected”.They also said that the studio’s development hierarchy was very “top-down”, something that many employees reportedly felt frustration with.
Due to these issues, development on the game is reportedly moving at a “painfully” slow pace.Speaking to VGC, Darrell Gallagher – studio head at The Initiative – said, “it’s not uncommon for there to be staffing changes, especially during a time of global upheaval over the last two years,” and added that there’s “plenty more work in front of us to deliver a fantastic Perfect Dark experience to our players.Back in September 2021, Microsoft brought Crystal Dynamics in to help develop the Perfect Dark reboot.
Read more on nme.com
