VGC’s sources agreed that they would be surprised if Crystal Dynamics’ introduction, combined with the significant departures of core staff, hadn’t triggered an effective soft reboot of Perfect Dark and that it was likely still years away from release.

Development on Perfect Dark is claimed to have been “painfully” slow.Ĭrystal Dynamics’ introduction is also now likely to plug the gaps left by The Initiative’s staff turnover, VGC was told. The culture issue was partly behind the decision to bring onboard Crystal Dynamics, it’s claimed, with Gallagher and Neuburger allegedly hoping that production would move more smoothly with the introduction of a second team familiar with their methods. One person said: “Making games is hard enough, let alone when you feel like you can’t get through to people making the decisions that affect everyone”. All former employees VGC spoke to said they were surprised at how lenient Microsoft had been over the lack of progress. Gallagher and Neuburger, who were previously studio head and game director at Crystal Dynamics, wanted to make games the way they always had with top-down direction, the sources said, while many Initiative employees were expecting a more bottom-up approach.Īs a result, it’s claimed that development has progressed “painfully” slowly and a solid company culture never formed. The former Initiative developers VGC spoke to attributed the wave of departures to frustration among senior talent over the direction of the project set down by Gallagher and game director Daniel Neuburger (who himself left the company last month).Īlthough The Initiative’s website claims that the company promotes a “collaborative” creative environment, former employees described the studio’s development hierarchy as very ‘top-down’, with Gallagher and Neuburger keeping a strong grasp on creative decisions.Īccording to the former employees, many senior team members were frustrated by this perceived lack of autonomy and didn’t feel heard on key issues such as development priorities, project planning and team staffing.

The Initiative was formed in 2018.Īcross the industry, many studios are currently facing a talent crisis, with the sheer level of expansion and investment in the sector making it challenging for even the biggest studios to retain and attract senior staff. In the games industry, competition for experienced talent is at an all-time high following a pandemic-fuelled gaming boom, and unhappy Initiative staff would likely have had plenty of alternative employment opportunities at the large number of neighbouring AAA studios in California. “We wish all our former colleagues the very best, and I’m confident in the team we have in place, the new talent joining, and we can’t wait to share more with the fans.” “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 creating The Initiative, we set out to leverage co-development partnerships to achieve our ambitions, and we’re really excited about all the progress we’re seeing with our relationship with Crystal Dynamics. “It’s no small task to build a studio and reinvent a beloved franchise,” studio head Darrell Gallagher told VGC.

The Initiative’s management told VGC it’s confident in the team it has in place, and new talent joining, and pointed to industry-wide staffing challenges during the Covid-19 pandemic. Interviews with multiple former senior developers cited a lack of creative autonomy and slow development progress as the reason for their departures, and described the wave of exits as “fast and furious” with project momentum said to be “heavily affected”. This, combined with the few job roles currently advertised at The Initiative, suggests that the Tomb Raider developer is likely taking a much stronger lead than first thought on the project.

The timing of the departures coincides with the September 2021 announcement that Crystal Dynamics had been signed to co-develop Perfect Dark.

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