Xbox’ The Initiative reportedly working on a third-person Perfect Dark

Xbox Game Studios’ elusive The Initiative studio is apparently rebooting the Perfect Dark franchise. The news comes after industry insider Jeff Grubb openly stated as such during a Twitch live stream.

Microsoft has been on a real buying spree these past years. From RPG giants Obsidian Entertainment & InXile Entertainment to adventure master at Double Fine & Ninja Theory. Team Xbox has been massively bolstering their first-party line-up going towards next-gen.

But one mysterious studio always gets sidelined during these talks, mostly because no official information about what they are doing ever surfaces. Until now that is. In a Twitch live stream of Kinda Funny Games, known industry insider Jeff Grubb surprised viewers with his appearance in the chat.

Not only that but just when the hosts were discussing the news of Xbox hiring game industry veterans for The Initiative, Grubb chimed in saying that the studio is working on a new Perfect Dark game. He immediately followed up by confirming it will be a third-person game, forgoing the FPS roots of the series.

A massive leak if true, and that bears reminding. No matter how true Grubb has been previously about leaks unless officially confirmed you’re always best suited to take these kinds of leaks as rumors. On Twitter, Grubb himself even admitted that it could also be set in the same universe.

Still, this would be massive news for Xbox gamers who last seen series protagonist Joanna Dark save the world as a deadly operative way back in 2010 on the Xbox 360. But since that is a remake of the original, this rumored new Perfect Dark is going to be the first real new entry since 2005’s Perfect Dark Zero.

The Initiative was founded by Microsoft in 2018 and ever since the company has been hiring industry veterans who have worked on landmark titles like Uncharted, God of War, Tomb Raider, and more.