New Leaks Reveal Rare’s Cancelled Everwild and Perfect Dark Reboot

Screenshots and design materials from two cancelled Xbox projects—Rare’s Everwild and The Initiative’s Perfect Dark reboot—have surfaced online, offering a rare look into what could have been for both games.

Everwild, first announced in 2019 as Rare’s next major release, was introduced with a visually rich trailer full of mystical wildlife and colourful biomes. The project was framed as a new fantasy adventure featuring players as “Eternals” who interacted with the world’s strange creatures in a way that seemed more spiritual than combative. Despite its promising reveal, the game’s direction remained unclear through subsequent presentations, and Microsoft officially cancelled it earlier this year following company-wide layoffs.

Newly discovered screenshots, found through the portfolio of an artist who worked on the project and first reported by mp1st, show portions of the game’s user interface and in-game environment. The inventory screen displays tabs labelled Favourites, Figments, Tools, Mosaics, Seeds, and Plants. Figments appear as small plant-like creatures, suggesting Everwild may have included some form of creature collection or ecological management system.

Another screenshot shows the player standing beside a stone circle in a foggy landscape, while other images show the game’s graphical settings and environmental details. Though limited, the images suggest an experimental mix of world interaction, farming, and environmental balance mechanics. Whether those systems represented the main gameplay or were part of a side activity remains unknown.

The latest leak marks the first substantial look at Everwild’s in-game design since its early trailers. Back in February, Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer commented on Rare’s ongoing work:

“It has been. And we’ve been able to give those teams time in what they’re doing which is good and still have a portfolio like we have. It’s like a dream that Matt and I have had for a long time, so it’s finally good to be there. We can give those teams time.” — Phil Spencer

However, development eventually halted, and Everwild’s team was dissolved as Rare shifted focus back to its live-service title, Sea of Thieves.

The Everwild leak comes shortly after another mp1st report detailed new information about Perfect Dark, the long-awaited reboot of Rare’s classic spy shooter. Internal documents from a former developer at The Initiative reveal that the reboot would have adopted an “eco sci-fi” setting and featured a mechanic called the Adrenaline System.

This system would have allowed players to heal, slow down time, or enhance damage output using a regenerating resource, rewarding players for chaining kills in rapid succession. The documentation also indicates that the project was planned to release episodically, with the first section referred to internally as “Season 1.”

The reboot aimed to modernise the Perfect Dark formula while maintaining the identity of the original N64 release. The Initiative reportedly drew inspiration from HBO’s Westworld, aiming to mix high-tech espionage with environmental and philosophical themes.

Concept art from the same batch of documents shows reimagined designs for protagonist Joanna Dark and futuristic cityscapes, including an updated version of Cairo—the setting featured in the game’s first gameplay trailer. That trailer, shown during the 2024 Xbox Games Showcase, was later accused of containing fake gameplay, though a designer on the team claimed it was “in-engine despite some fake stuff in it.”

At the time of its cancellation earlier this year, Perfect Dark had reached the “vertical slice” stage—a playable demo built to demonstrate its intended gameplay loop and visual tone. The documentation emphasised that The Initiative identified an opening in the stealth-action market during the absence of major genre entries like Metal Gear Solid and James Bond 007. Ironically, both franchises have since returned to active development.

Earlier this year, Microsoft also cancelled Contraband, a cooperative open-world project from Avalanche Studios. The move led to the closure of Avalanche’s Liverpool branch and layoffs across its Swedish offices.

With both Everwild and Perfect Dark now shelved, Rare and The Initiative’s futures appear to be refocused on ongoing and smaller-scale projects within Xbox Game Studios. The two titles join a growing list of internally cancelled projects that never progressed beyond prototype or pre-production.

The newly surfaced images and files offer the most detailed look yet at the creative directions both teams were exploring before development ceased. Neither Microsoft nor the studios involved has issued statements following the latest leaks.