Studio behind Tomb Raider collaborates on Perfect Dark reboot

Microsoft studio The Initiative is teaming up with Crystal Dynamics, the studio behind the latest Tomb Raider trilogy, to work on the Perfect Dark reboot. According to the studio, the game is still “early in development”.

Due to this partnership, the Perfect Dark reboot is no longer a full Microsoft first-party project, as Crystal Dynamics is part of publisher Square Enix. When the game was announced last year, it was only mentioned that Microsoft studio The Initiative is working on the reboot of the Perfect Dark series.

“The teams couldn’t pass up the opportunity to work together,” This is how The Initiative tweets. Despite the game being unveiled in a CG trailer at the Game Awards last year, the studio reports that the teams are currently still in the early stages of development.

Crystal Dynamics has been working on the latest Tomb Raider trilogy, with the final installment, Shadow of the Tomb Raider, coming out in 2018. Since then, the studio has been working on Marvel’s Avengers. The studio is currently working on new content for that game.

The Initiative was only recently founded, and has no released games to its name yet. The studio consists of former employees of Activision and Square Enix, among others. The former head of Crystal Dynamics, Darrell Gallagher, founded The Initiative, and the director of the Tomb Raider games has also moved to the Microsoft studio.

Two Perfect Dark games have been released so far, the last of which dates back to 2005. Both titles were developed by Rare, but although Rare is now a Microsoft studio, that studio will not participate in the reboot.