The long-awaited Perfect Dark reboot broke cover this summer and it's well worth paying attention to. Developed in collaboration between The Initiative and Crystal Dynamics, Perfect Dark is aiming to deliver the ultimate secret agent experience, with enough freedom in its design to let you play your own way.
Of all the upcoming Xbox Series X games in development right now, it's one I'm perhaps the most excited about. It's been almost 15 years since Joanna Dark helped usher in the Xbox 360 era with Perfect Dark Zero, and a successor has been a longtime coming. Team Perfect Dark is going the reboot route for this experience, tapping into what made the prior games so beloved while giving the gameplay experience a fresh shot in the arm for a new generation of players. While we wait for more Perfect Dark news, keep reading on to get caught up with everything we know so far.
Perfect Dark release date
Microsoft Gaming is yet to confirm an official Perfect Dark release date. With the series set to celebrate its 25th anniversary in 2025, and following the excellent gameplay reveal over the summer, many are hoping that Joanna Dark's return may surface sooner rather than later. However, it's worth noting that there are reports of a development reboot occurring in 2022, which could mean that the Perfect Dark remake is still a few years away from release. The only first-party releases Xbox currently has confirmed for 2025 are Avowed (February 18), Doom: The Dark Ages (TBC), Fable 4 (TBC), and South of Midnight (TBC).
Perfect Dark platforms
The confirmed Perfect Dark platforms are Xbox Series X and PC, as well as a day-one release into the Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription service. It's unclear whether a Perfect Dark PS5 version is in development, although it would appear (for the time being, at least) that this new adventure will be an Xbox exclusive.
Perfect Dark gameplay trailer
The latest Perfect Dark trailer is a far cry from the teaser we saw at the 2020 Game Awards. In it, a frankly too-badass-to-be-real Joanna Dark gets suited up to go undercover on a stealthy mission in Cairo. Cue all the techno-gadget and cybernetic punk-infused sensibilities of first-person action games like Dishonored or Deus Ex, as Joanna slinks about the bustling city like a shadow. After years of silence, Perfect Dark is looking better than ever.
Perfect Dark story
Perfect Dark has been envisioned as a full series reboot, designed to give all players an easy onboarding into a series which is set to celebrate its 25th anniversary in 2025. You'll play as Joanna Dark, a dataDyne elite agent sent into Cairo to investigate the origins of 'The Cascade' – a strange series of ecological disasters which have rendered entire regions of the globe inhospitable to human life. Dark is sent to Cairo after the capital city becomes a walled-off paradise, following a hypercorporation known as Core Mantis' attempt to set up a solution called the 'GEN Network' which is said to restore ecological balance. Dark will need to investigate the corporations' motives, and hunt the world's most wanted criminal, Daniel Carrington, in the process.
Perfect Dark setting
The Perfect Dark reboot is set on a 'near future' Earth, one which has been struck by a series of global disasters – each bringing ecosystems around the world to the verge of collapse. That's where Joanna Dark comes in, a dataDyne's elite agent who is sent undercover to hunt down whoever is responsible for the technological breakthroughs which threaten the lives of millions of people. The Perfect Dark reboot will be principally set in Cairo, the capital of Egypt.
Perfect Dark gameplay
The Initiative wants to deliver the "ultimate secret agent experience" and from what we've seen of the Perfect Dark gameplay in action so far, the studio is on track to deliver. This first-person action-adventure game is blending fluid traversal and high-tech gadgets with a mixture of gunplay and close-quarters combat, the result is a freedom to define what sort of spy Joanna Dark is going to be. It looks exceptionally slick, with the first gameplay trailer offering big Deus Ex vibes – no complaints here.
You'll be able to take lethal and non-lethal routes to take down threats. Joanna can shift her primary weapon between ballistic or stun configurations, and utilize unlockable abilities to dispatch multiple enemies at once. There's also a variety of gadgets to wield; Vocal Analysis will let you analyze an NPC's voice to create a deepfake which can trick security systems, while Manipulation will let you mess around with elements in the environment to create distractions. Naturally, you can also use a scanner to learn more details about the world around you – information is key in the super agent business.
Will Perfect Dark have multiplayer?
There's no firm answer, one way or the other, on the question of Perfect Dark multiplayer support. However, there are early warning signs that this series reboot is moving away from online and co-op functionality. Xbox Wire says "at the widest level, Perfect Dark will be a single-player experience" – but that leaves a lot undetermined. Historically, Perfect Dark has been an excellent multiplayer offering – from the split-screen local play of the original N64 experience to the 32-player carnage offered by Perfect Dark Zero for the launch of the Xbox 360.
Perfect Dark development
Perfect Dark is in development from The Initiative and Crystal Dynamics. The former studio was founded in 2018 and headed up by Darrell Gallagher – who, funnily enough, played a key role in the 2013 revival of Tomb Raider with Crystal Dynamics.
The partnership of the two studios came off the back of rumors that had been circulating, alleging that The Initiative was struggling to retain staff as development of Perfect Dark became more complex. Gallagher later told VGC: "It's no small task to build a studio and reinvent a beloved franchise… In this journey, 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."
In 2021, Microsoft announced that The Initiative was partnering with Crystal Dynamics to complete development of the Perfect Dark reboot. In a statement, The Initiative drew attention to the "world class team behind character-driven games such as Tomb Raider" which will help it "to bring this first-person spy thriller to a new generation". Crystal Dynamics was acquired by Embracer Group from Square Enix in 2022, but has since confirmed that it will continue working on the new Perfect Dark in a co-developer capacity.
