Microsoft's huge round of layoffs earlier this year resulted in the cancellation of the Perfect Dark reboot and developer The Initiative shutting down. 9,000 employees from various studios were let go in that period, along with a number of games getting cancelled. While there was a faint hope that Perfect Dark could have been saved, the deal eventually collapsed over ownership rights.
As it stands, we're not going to be getting a Perfect Dark reboot. Around two months after that dreadful day, it appears that some gameplay details and concept art for the cancelled project have emerged online. These details come from screenshots and documentation shared by a former employee close to the period that it was cancelled.
As reported by MP1st, which got access to these details, the vision of the Perfect Dark reboot was to reimagine the series while keeping its core DNA intact. The HBO show Westworld was used as a reference for this vision, as it reimagined a classic IP while introducing newer themes. Until April this year, The Initiative was working on the first playable proof-of-concept. There's also evidence to suggest that it might have followed an episodic format.
Certain gameplay...
