Perfect Dark Studio Head Jack Gallagher Announces Departure From Xbox

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Just a couple of months after news surfaced that the *Perfect Dark* project was cancelled, Darrell Gallagher, the head of the game’s developer, The Initiative, has announced he’s leaving Xbox. Gallagher shared the news on LinkedIn, expressing pride in the dedicated team that had been working on the game before its cancellation.

I’m moving on from Xbox after working on *Perfect Dark* and leading The Initiative,” announced Gallagher. “I’m incredibly proud of the amazing team I built and led. We worked hard to revitalize a classic game series, putting a lot of creativity and dedication into everything we did.

We’re incredibly grateful for the amazing response and enthusiasm everyone has shown for our work. It’s been truly inspiring for the whole team.

Gallagher also expressed his gratitude to Xbox for the opportunity to work on *Perfect Dark* and appreciated the support the development team, The Initiative, was receiving from the gaming community.

It’s really sad to see this project wrapping up earlier than we all wanted, but honestly, the amazing work and passion the team put into it will definitely be remembered. I’m so thankful to Xbox for giving them the chance to create this, and to everyone who helped along the way. Most of all, I appreciate the community’s support and how much they believed in what the team was building – that means the world!

I’m leaving with a lot of pride in everything we achieved as a team, and I’m really excited about what the future holds – for both my own career and for the incredible developers I had the pleasure of working with. Here’s to starting new chapters and remembering all we’ve done together.

It was revealed in July that the cancellation of the game *Perfect Dark* ultimately caused the studio behind it, The Initiative, to close. Xbox Game Studios head Matt Booty announced the news in an internal email, explaining that *Perfect Dark* and *Everwild*, as well as a number of other unreleased games, had been cancelled.

Man, the cancellation of *Perfect Dark* really caused a ripple effect. I was reading that even Crystal Dynamics, who were helping The Initiative with the game, had layoffs recently. Apparently, it all came down to a deal falling apart where Embracer Group was trying to buy the *Perfect Dark* rights from Xbox and then sell it to Take-Two Interactive. Take-Two would have been the ones funding the game’s development, but the whole thing just didn’t pan out.

Crystal Dynamics recently had to lay off some employees due to changing business needs. The studio stated this was a difficult decision, but necessary to secure its future and continue focusing on its main projects, including the ongoing development of the next *Tomb Raider* game. They emphasized that the layoffs wouldn’t impact the *Tomb Raider* project’s progress.

We want to thank our teams, players, and partners for their ongoing support as we work towards a future that’s innovative, environmentally friendly, and strong. This also includes the future of *Tomb Raider*, which will not be impacted by this change.

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2025-09-16 18:41