With Crystal Dynamics joining The Initiative, is Xbox’s ambitious AAAA title 'Perfect Dark' a cause for concern?

The Initiative recently broke silence on its ambitious 'Perfect Dark' title by announcing Crystal Dynamics will be joining the development process of the AAAA Xbox title.

From first-person shooter Halo to racing sim Forza, Xbox has had quite a diverse portfolio. However, one of the major complaints regarding the publisher has been the lack of big-budget cinematic single-player games, such as God of War or Uncharted, being offered by Sony's PlayStation platform.

In addition to acquiring a diverse set of studios, including the showstopping acquisition of Zenimax Bethesda, Xbox head Phil Spencer launched a new studio, The Initiative in Santa Monica, California, led by veteran game developer Darrell Gallagher.

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Perfect Dark, the ambitious AAAA Xbox title by The Initiative

The Initiative revealed their ambitious AAAA title to be a reboot of the Perfect Dark series. However, other than the CGI announcement trailer, there aren’t many details regarding the title.

Darrell Gallagher, the head of The Initiative, was instrumental in the Tomb Raider reboot during his time at Crystal Dynamics and as such, he is quite capable of reimagining a classic franchise, modernizing it while holding on to its true essence.

The Initiative recently announced that Crystal Dynamics would be joining them in the development process of Perfect Dark. Crystal Dynamics has worked closely with Xbox before, particularly during the launch of the Rise of The Tomb Raider, often regarded as the best title in the Tomb Raider trilogy.

Interestingly, Darrell Gallagher was also the head of the studio at Crystal Dynamics during that period. As such, bringing in Crystal Dynamics as a partner developer makes sense.

However, the fan reception of the news has been mixed, to say the least. While Crystal Dynamics brilliantly reimagined Lara Croft in the Tomb Raider Trilogy, their recent game, The Avengers, based on the popular Marvel Comics IP and backed by the hype of Marvel Cinematic Universe fans, ultimately failed to meet fan expectations.

Other than that, The Initiative was built from the ground up to develop AAAA-level games. As such, bringing in additional help after a couple of years of development also raises questions on The Initiative’s as of yet unproven capability.

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Crystal Dynamics will help The Initiative reach the finish line

However, Crystal Dynamics joining The Initiative does not seem to be a reason for concern. While The Initiative consists of many talented developers, ultimately, it’s a small team in comparison to other AAA studios.

Crystal Dynamics will work as a contractual developer, as they will give shape to The Initiative’s idea. As such, Xbox and The Initiative won’t have to go through the tedious process of hiring a big team, rather they will simply outsource the bulk of the development to Crystal Dynamics.

Crystal Dynamics, whose live-service co-op title The Avengers failed, is known for amazing single-player games such as the Tomb Raider series. Perfect Dark, as a single-player title, is exactly in their domain.

Xbox's ambitious AAAA title Perfect Dark seems to be in good hands with The Initiative and Crystal Dynamics. The only caviar being, the game probably won't come out anytime soon.