Earlier today, we got an alleged hint at what the new studio from Microsoft, The Initiative, is working on. If this rumor is to be believed, the studio is working on reviving one of Rare’s IPs with Perfect Dark. It seems, though, that the game may not be all that familiar to fans if further elaboration on said rumor is also true.
VentureBeat’s Jeff Grub, who was the originator of the above mentioned rumor, took to his official Twitter to clarify some things. While earlier he had said the game may not be “exactly Perfect Dark,” it could instead just be something set in that universe. He has elaborated on that more by saying the game in question is not actually a Perfect Dark game at all, and will only borrow elements from that series. He likened it to Apex Legends and its relation to Titanfall.
If you are unfamiliar, Apex Legends technically takes place in the same universe as Respawn’s Titanfall franchise. But ultimately, there’s little plot relation between the two, and it’s more of a relationship of Apex Legends borrowing things from Titanfall here and there. The games are also radically different, so unless you knew the deeper lore and nuances of Titanfall, you’d never even know they were related.
So, whatever this game is may not even resemble Perfect Dark, it seems as if it may not even be set in the same canon as those games. It could just be taking smaller elements here and there. The Initiative has been hiring some top talent, so whatever it is, the game will have a lot to live up to, but odds are we also won’t see if for a minimum of 2 years, either. We will just have to see how it all pans out.
I think the best comparison is Apex Legends. It is not a Titanfall game even if it takes things from that universe.
— grubbsnax is back (@JeffGrubb) August 26, 2020