“Tomb Raider” developer Crystal Dynamics announced layoffs last week. The latest round of layoffs, reportedly the studio’s second this year, comes after a potential deal with Take-Two Interactive to fund a Perfect Dark reboot fell apart. The game was canceled by Microsoft in July, but co-developer Crystal Dynamics is trying to find a new publishing partner to buy the game from the Xbox parent company, according to a new report.
Take-Two is close to buying Perfect Dark
Crystal Dynamics parent company Embracer Group is in discussions with Microsoft and Take-Two to let the latter take over the Perfect Dark project, Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier reported on Tuesday. As part of the deal, Take-Two will purchase the reboot from Xbox to finance and publish the game.
Take-Two was reportedly close to signing a deal, but the deal ultimately fell through. Bloomberg, citing people familiar with the negotiations, said the talks failed in part because Take-Two, Microsoft and Embracer were unable to reach an agreement on long-term ownership of the Perfect Dark series. Microsoft has owned the rights to the IP since it acquired the original game developer Rare in 2022.
Microsoft showed off Perfect Dark gameplay at the Xbox Games Showcase last year
Image source: Microsoft
Perfect Dark Completely Gives Up
Crystal Dynamics was forced to lay off an undisclosed number of employees last week as the deal was put on hold. The studio has now reportedly given up on a Perfect Dark reboot entirely.
In its announcement confirming a new round of layoffs, Crystal Dynamics cited “changing business conditions” as the reason for the layoffs. The developer said the move was necessary to ensure its long-term health, but confirmed that Tomb Raider’s future would not be affected by the decision. In addition to developing Perfect Dark with now-shuttered Xbox studio The Initiative, Cystal Dynamics has also been developing the next Tomb Raider game.
Microsoft canceled Perfect Dark as part of widespread layoffs in its gaming division in July. The company has also shut down co-developer The Initiative and canceled several other unannounced projects.
The stealth action game, a reboot of the 2000 original, was announced at The Game Awards 2020 and is being developed by newly formed Xbox first-party studio The Initiative in conjunction with Crystal Dynamics. Perfect Dark also received a first-look gameplay trailer at last year’s Xbox Game Showcase.