Two minutes of Perfect Dark reboot footage have leaked online, showing Joanna Dark blowing things up in a game that Microsoft cancelled in 2025, and honestly, watching it is a bit like being shown photos from a party you weren’t allowed into.
The clips reportedly come from a development build, and while it’s not going to bring the game back from the dead, it does give us the clearest look yet at what The Initiative was actually making before the plug got pulled. So what’s in it, and does it make the cancellation sting more? Let’s find out!
What Does the Perfect Dark Reboot Footage Actually Show?
The footage was first published by Mp1st, which says it came from a VFX artist who worked on the project, and it’s since been spreading on social media, with Time Extension and Video Games Chronicle both picking it up on 7 October.
It’s a montage of short clips rather than one long run, but there’s a surprising amount going on in there, including:
- An exploding industrial complex, a sunny modern town, and an exterior caught in a red sandstorm
- Joanna testing out weapons, including a rotary grenade launcher and her trusty Falcon pistol
- A short burst of split-screen gameplay
- A hand-based hacking mechanic, plus an escape sequence that looks like part of a mission
- Weapon effect tests in greybox areas, which is dev-speak for “the level isn’t finished, please don’t judge”
VGC is careful to say the footage only “appears to be” from the project, so nobody has officially confirmed it’s genuine, but it lines up with everything we’ve seen from the game before, and it’s genuinely the most Perfect Dark-looking thing we’ve seen in years!
How Did a “Super Studio” End Up With Nothing to Show?
This is the depressing bit, so buckle up! The Initiative was set up in Santa Monica in 2018 by former Crystal Dynamics boss Darrell Gallagher and a group of veteran developers, Perfect Dark was revealed at The Game Awards in 2020, and the plan was for it to be the studio’s very first game.
What followed was a rough few years, with VGC reporting a wave of senior departures by March 2022, Crystal Dynamics brought in to help with development, a gameplay showing in 2024 a full four years after the reveal, and then the whole thing being cancelled in 2025 alongside the closure of The Initiative and Rare’s Everwild as part of Microsoft’s wider cuts.
There was even a last-ditch rescue attempt, with Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier reporting in September 2025 that Take-Two had tried to save the project, only for talks with Microsoft and Embracer to collapse over who’d actually own the franchise long term. Which is a very corporate way for Joanna Dark to go out, isn’t it?
Lest We ForgetRare’s original Perfect Dark landed on the N64 in 2000, and you can still play the Xbox 360 remaster as part of Rare Replay, which is a lot more “legal” than whatever some people, definitely not me, do with the fan-made PC port.
[ADD PERSONAL NOTE: any memories of the N64 original, Perfect Dark Zero, or split-screen sessions]
Does This Leak Actually Change Anything for Players?
Practically speaking, no, because the game is cancelled, the studio is gone, and a two-minute montage won’t convince Microsoft to spend a giant pile of money finishing it.
What it does do is show that there was something real there, with recognisable Perfect Dark ideas like hacking, silly sci-fi guns and split-screen chaos, and voice actor Alix Wilton Regan has previously said several chapters of dialogue were recorded, which makes the whole thing feel even more wasteful, honestly.
Microsoft has been happy enough to bring back its older series when it suits it, as we saw when the Fallout 3 and New Vegas remasters were confirmed, so it’s a bit of a shame that Joanna couldn’t get the same love… or even a polite shrug!
So, Is There Any Hope Left for Joanna Dark?
My take is that you should watch the Perfect Dark reboot footage for what it is, a little time capsule of a game that could’ve been, and not as a sign that anything is coming back, because nothing official suggests that at all.
The franchise still exists, and Microsoft still owns it, so a revival someday isn’t impossible, but if you want Perfect Dark right now, the N64 classic and the Rare Replay version are your only real options, and they’re still a blast. Would you actually want another studio to have a go at it?
FAQ
Is the leaked Perfect Dark reboot footage real?
It reportedly comes from a VFX artist who worked on the game, and it matches earlier showings, but neither Microsoft nor the developers have confirmed the Perfect Dark reboot footage is genuine.
Why was the Perfect Dark reboot cancelled?
Microsoft cancelled it in 2025 as part of wider cuts that also closed developer The Initiative and cancelled Rare’s Everwild. A later rescue attempt by Take-Two reportedly fell through.
Can I still play Perfect Dark?
Yes, the original N64 game is available in remastered form as part of Rare Replay on Xbox.
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