Perfect Dark Revival Unveiled at The Game Awards

The Game Awards 2020 are underway, and right after the world watch Sephiroth murder Mario—no, really—Geoff Keighley threw to a new trailer for the first game from The Initiative, Microsoft’s so-called “AAAA” studio. There’s ecological chaos, shady corporations that rolled into fix it all, and life-or-death espionage. Let’s cut to the chase: it’s a new Perfect Dark.

Yes, while Microsoft swore up and down that branded Twitter accounts for both Perfect Dark and Fable weren’t actually attached to upcoming games, we now see that both Rare-created franchises are due for new entries. It’s not entirely clear if The Initiative is making a full-on, clean-slate reboot or something that will fit into previous continuity, but the debut trailer shows the world is in a very different place from the last time we saw Joanna Dark.

Here’s what our Editor-in-Chief Kat Bailey said earlier this year on Perfect Dark’s 20th anniversary as to why it deserves a revival: “Its open-ended design was way ahead of its time, bringing to mind modern favorites like Hitman, which we lauded as one of the best games of the decade. Joanna Dark herself is also a very fun protagonist who is cut from much the same cloth as Lara Croft, making her a perfect fit for 2020.”

As for this being The Initiative’s top-secret project, that’s also not too surprising. VG247 pointed to speculation about it being a Perfect Dark project back in April, and a LinkedIn profile for an Initiative tech designer that mentioned “gadgets, and a camera surveillance system” ramped up even more excitement for another Dark adventure in August.

Microsoft has yet to discuss intended platforms or release timing for this new Perfect Dark.