Take-Two hires former Perfect Dark reboot bosses to form a new 2K studio

Take-Two has hired the ex-director and former studio head behind the cancelled Perfect Dark reboot to form a new studio within 2K.

A reboot of Perfect Dark was being developed by California-based The Initiative before the game was cancelled in July. The developer was then closed as part of a sweeping layoff across Microsoft.

The game, a remake of the classic spy shooter from developer Rare, was announced in 2020 and featured in last summer’s Xbox Summer Showcase before its cancellation.

Now, Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier has reported that two senior figures from the project have been headhunted by GTA 6 publisher Take-Two to form a new studio. Darrell Gallagher, former studio head at The Initiative, and Brian Horton, the director of Perfect Dark, have both joined Take-Two.

No indication has been given as to where the studio will be based, the studio’s name, or what it will be working on going forward.

This comes shortly after it was revealed that talks were held to potentially find the now-cancelled Perfect Dark reboot a new home with Take-Two.

According to Bloomberg’s sources, Take-Two was in discussions with Microsoft and Embracer to fund and publish the game, but the deal collapsed in part because the companies were unable to come to terms over long-term ownership of the Perfect Dark franchise.

Microsoft confirmed a significant wave of layoffs during the summer, which reportedly saw as much as 4% – roughly 9,100 – of the company’s total employees across all departments, including gaming, affected.

Alongside Perfect Dark, Everwild, the long-in-development new IP from Rare, was also cancelled.