Microsoft gave Perfect Dark’s developers a chance to save the game — after it was already canceled

In July, Microsoft's sweeping layoffs hit Xbox hard, and shuttered the entire game studio that was building Perfect Dark. Officially, the game was canceled. But unofficially, reports Bloomberg's Jason Schreier, Microsoft gave Perfect Dark's other set of developers - Tomb Raider studio Crystal Dynamics - a chance to revive the game.

Here's where it gets potentially confusing: Microsoft doesn't own Crystal Dynamics - that studio belongs to the Embracer Group, which has had many troubles of its own. So Embracer was trying to cut a deal with yet another publisher, the giant Take-Two, to buy, fund, and publish the game. But, Schreier reports:

the talks collapsed at least in part because the companies involved were unable to come to terms over long-term ownership of thePerfect Darkfranchise, said the people, who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak about sensitive negotiations.

When that deal fell through, it reportedly led to the new round of layoffs at Crystal Dynamics that IGN reported last week, and Schreier writes that Crystal Dynamics has now fully" abandoned the game.

Seems Microsoft didn't want to give up the rights to Perfect Dark, which it presumably obtained when it bought Rare in 2002. (For the uninitiated, Perfect Dark was a spiritual successor to Rare's hit Goldeneye 007 on the Nintendo 64, a game that itself went many decades without a revival because of a complicated licensing situation.) That feels like a crummy reason for the game to stay canceled, but we don't know the details.

Microsoft was able to broker a previous deal to save Hi-Fi Rush developer Tango Gameworks by selling it to PUBG giant Krafton, but it was under a lot of pressure there. Hi-Fi Rush had already been released, had become a break out hit" that won prestige and awards", and gamers were pissed that Microsoft had rewarded its developers with layoffs.

For now, you can still watch the new Perfect Dark's trailers and developer interview.