Microsoft is closing the studio growing the Excellent Darkish reboot and cancelling the sport

The Initiative, the Xbox studio growing a modern reimagining of Perfect Dark, is being shut down, and growth of the sport is ending. As first reported by Windows Central, the studio’s closure is a part of major cuts Microsoft is making throughout its enterprise, affecting round 4 p.c of the corporate’s international workforce.

Based mostly on a memo from Xbox Recreation Studios head Matt Booty obtained by Home windows Central, which Microsoft has confirmed is real, the choice to shut The Initiative was born out of the cancellation of Excellent Darkish, quite than the opposite means round. “Now we have made the choice to cease growth of Excellent Darkish and Everwild in addition to wind down a number of unannounced tasks throughout our portfolio,” Booty wrote. “As a part of this, we’re closing one among our studios, The Initiative.”

Uncommon’s Everwild was previously reported to be one of many tasks impacted by Microsoft’s layoffs. The sport was announced in 2019 however has had a troubled growth, even starting from scratch in 2021. Excellent Darkish, based mostly on the older Rare game of the same name, was purported to be The Initiative’s first venture. The sport was being co-developed in partnership with Crystal Dynamics. The primary gameplay footage of the Excellent Darkish reboot was proven in 2024.

Whereas cancelled video games are essentially the most seen influence of Microsoft’s layoffs, it more and more feels like numerous studios will find yourself being affected in a technique or one other. Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier writes that Name of Obligation studio Raven can be dealing with cuts, and Forza Motorsport developer Flip 10 might find yourself shedding round 50 p.c of its workers.