Footage of Cancelled Perfect Dark Reboot Has Been Leaked

The Xbox reboot of Perfect Dark was one of the most anticipated games of recent years, and it now ranks among the top canceled games with the most potential; as a reminder, the game's development was abandoned last year when Xbox shut down The Initiative as part of layoffs.

Crystal Dynamics, best known for its work on Tomb Raider, is also known to have been involved in the development of the new Perfect Dark. Recently, several gameplay footage from the reboot has appeared, posted by VFX artist Tracey Landau. Apparently, the video below shows an early version of the game, but it already gives a sense of what the new installment might look like—especially in terms of visuals, shooting mechanics, and animations.

LEAKED | Perfect Dark — 2 mins of Gameplay

Perfect Dark is a cancelled first-person shooter game that was under development by The Initiative and Crystal Dynamics.

According to Bloomberg journalist Jason Schreier, Take-Two Interactive was in talks with Microsoft about possible funding for Perfect Dark, but the negotiations reached an impasse, after which the reboot was canceled indefinitely. Microsoft still holds the franchise rights, but it doesn't seem like the company is interested in developing a new installment or resuming work on a reboot.

Perfect Dark reboot, canceled in 2025, was announced back in 2020. It would have been the first game in the series since 2010, when a remaster of the original Nintendo 64 game was released. In terms of genre, the reboot was positioned as an eco-sci-fi spy thriller, and the plot would have centered on climate issues amid a corporate conspiracy and the use of control over nature as a weapon.