Perfect Dark’s Development Had Hit Milestones “That the Client Was Really Happy With” Before Cancellation

by

Although the reboot of Perfect Dark by The Initiative was canceled a few months ago, development was reportedly progressing smoothly. Alix Wilton-Regan, the voice actor for Joanna Dark in Perfect Dark, recently told The Gamer she was very surprised by the cancellation. Wilton-Regan, who is currently voicing Lara Croft in the upcoming Tomb Raider: Catalyst and Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis, learned about the project’s end at the same time as the general public.

She said she was just as shocked and upset as everyone else when the funding was cut and the studio shut down. She hadn’t expected it at all and was completely surprised by the news.

According to Wilton-Regan, voice recording for Perfect Dark happened throughout 2023, and performance capture continued into 2024 and 2025. She said the project was quite advanced, with entire chapters already recorded before completion. The development team, known as The Initiative, consistently met and exceeded the client’s expectations with their progress.

As a big fan, it’s amazing to hear how much work went into this! Apparently, they were collecting pieces of the game throughout 2023, and then spent a lot of 2024 doing performance capture. They were still adding things in 2025! From what Wilton-Regan said, it sounds like they had made serious progress – she’d even finished entire chapters set in the game’s world. She’s not totally sure how much is actually done overall, but it’s clear they were really building something special.

She described the cancellation of the project and the studio’s closure as devastating, explaining that many people lost their jobs and the entire team was disbanded. She emphasized the sudden loss of a vibrant and collaborative creative environment, stating it was a very difficult time for everyone involved.

Wilton-Regan also mentioned the attempts to restart development on the new Perfect Dark game. The plan involved Embracer Group buying the rights from Microsoft and then selling them to Take-Two Interactive, who would fund the game’s creation. Unfortunately, this deal didn’t happen, and as a consequence, Crystal Dynamics, the studio behind Tomb Raider, had to lay off employees.

Wilton-Regan described the moment development was halted as a deeply discouraging one, saying it was when they lost hope. When news broke that Perfect Dark funding was cut, many people—from journalists to friends and coworkers—contacted him for his thoughts.

I wasn’t able to share much information at the time because I knew The Initiative was negotiating to keep Perfect Dark alive in some capacity. They were considering a smaller-scale version or a slightly altered approach. Everyone was working diligently behind the scenes to revive the game. However, I later learned from the creative director that the deal fell through, and the project was completely cancelled.

Thinking about what’s next, Wilton-Regan talked about how weird things are right now. Getting to play both Lara Croft in the new Tomb Raider games and Joanna was honestly one of the most creatively fulfilling experiences of my life. It’s a little scary knowing the Joanna stuff might not ever come out, but I was so grateful to still have Lara. Honestly, I’m still worried about losing the role of Lara, it’s always in the back of my mind.

Keep an eye out for Megan Wilton-Regan as Lara Croft in two upcoming Tomb Raider games: Legacy of Atlantis in 2026 and Catalyst in 2027. Both games will be available on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S. Regarding the Perfect Dark reboot, although development seems to have stalled, key team members Darrel Gallagher and Brian Horton have joined Take-Two Interactive to create a new studio under the 2K label.

Read More

2025-12-19 17:12