Crystal Dynamics Layoffs Reportedly Affect Undisclosed Number of Staff
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Key points
- Perfect Dark Reboot was canceled by Microsoft in July, resulting in layoffs at Crystal Dynamics.
- An undisclosed number of staff were affected after a potential funding deal with Take-Two Interactive fell through.
- The failure to secure funding resulted in a full abandonment of the Perfect Dark reboot.
Perfect Dark’s reboot’s cancellation was cemented after unsuccessful negotiations with a potential funding deal with Take-Two Interactive, resulting in an undisclosed number of layoffs at Crystal Dynamics, one of the co-development studios for the title.
The game was initially canceled in July as part of Microsoft’s widespread layoffs and game shutdowns. Xbox had previously stated that they were canceling Perfect Dark, but the developers were allowed to find funding elsewhere.
The Leadership at The Initiative and Crystal Dynamics reportedly spent the next couple of months attempting to find a publisher and began negotiations with Take-Two to fund the game. According to a report from Bloomberg, the negotiations fell through, resulting in Crystal Dynamics laying off an undisclosed number of staff. The report from Bloomberg claims the negotiations collapsed due to “disagreement over long-term ownership of the Perfect Dark franchise.”
The initial cancellation of Perfect Dark’s reboot was Xbox’s plan to “reflect a broader effort to adjust priorities and focus resources to set up [their] team for greater success within a changing industry landscape.” Perfect Dark is a first-person stealth shooter game developed by Rare. It is a spiritual successor to GoldenEye 007 and was released in 2000.
