The design director of The Initiative studio, in charge of Perfect Dark, leave the project of the new reboot of the saga.
Drew Murraw has revealed the news in Twitter (as reported in VGC). He had previously worked on Resistance, Ratchet & Clank, and Sunset Overdrive with Insomniac Games before leaving the studio in 2018 and helping start one of his own for Microsoft. She leaves the project to focus on life “outside of work” and has tweeted that her departure leaves her with a bittersweet taste after working with such a talented team.
After two wild years helping start @TheInitiative @Xbox and rebooting #PerfectDark, it’s time for me to say a tearful and bittersweet goodbye to my team at The Initiative. (1/5) pic.twitter.com/LIY9AQDyTV
— Drew Murray (@PlaidKnuckles) February 1, 2021
“The team has the vision and the talent to make the franchise stand out,” Murray tweeted referring to the future of the project, when the trailer for the game has not yet been revealed. Interestingly, Murray points out that when he joined The Initiative, he wasn’t aware that the team was working on a new Perfect Dark.
Murray says the best thing is that you will be able to enjoy Perfect Drk as a fan the day it is released. The reboot was announced in 2020 during The Game Awards, and promises to deliver a sci-fi first-person shooter.
The Initiative studio, located in Santa Monica, was introduced by Microsoft in 2018 and is described as a “AAAA” game studio. The team is currently led by Darrell Gallgher, a veteran of ROckstar Games, Crystal Dynamics and Activision, who has worked on games such as GTA IV and Tomb Raider.
God of War producer Brian Westergaard and Red Dead Redemption screenwriter Christian Cantamessa also currently work at The Initiative, presumably contributing to the Perfect Dark project. He is part of Microsoft’s expanding team following the acquisition of Zenimax Media.