After
7
years,
Xbox
studio
The
Initiative
has
been
shut
down
without
releasing
a
single
game.
As
part
of
the
closure,
the
game
they
were
working
on,
a
reboot
of
classic
franchise
Perfect
Dark,
has
been
cancelled.

Jez
Corden
of
Windows
Central
shared
the
news
as
part
of
ongoing
coverage
of
Microsoft
cutting
4%
of
its
global
workforce.

Windows
Central
was
given
a
copy
of
an
internal
memo
sent
by
Matt
Booty
addressing
the
closure.

“We
have
made
the
decision
to
stop
development
of
Perfect
Dark
and
Everwild
as
well
as
wind
down
several
unannounced
projects
across
our
portfolio.
As
part
of
this,
we
are
closing
one
of
our
studios,
The
Initiative,”
wrote
Booty. 

Those
other
projects
that
Booty
mentioned

so
far
include
Everwild,
along
with

an
unannounced
MMORP
at
Zenimax
Online
Studios.

Forza
Motorsport
developer
Turn
10
has
also
reportedly
lost
half
of
its
staff.

As
for
The
Initiative,
the
last
publically
confirmed
headcount
was
back
in
2022,
at
which
point
the
studio
had
56
staff
members.
This
number
has
likely
grown
as
development
on
Perfect
Dark
ramped
up,
but
I
can’t
find
any
information
to
confirm
exact
numbers.

In
the
same
article,
Jez
addresses
other
studios
being
hit.
He
mentions
that
any
studio
who
showed
something
at
the
recent
Xbox
event
is
“safe,”
according
to
his
sources.
However,
he
does
mention
Undead
Labs
also
appears
to
have
been
hit
by
the
layoffs.

Project
Dark
was
last
shown
off
in
2024
at
the
Xbox
Showcase.
We
were
finally
given
a
look
at
actual
gameplay,
but
a
release
date
was
never
mentioned.
The
game
was
notably
absent
from
this
year’s
event.