For a long time, Microsoft's new studio, The Initiative, was wrapped in secrecy. While everyone knew it was working on something, no one had any idea what. But after numerous rumors, Microsoft and The Initiative finally lifted the lid and confirmed that its first game will be a new Perfect Dark. This was announced in December during The Game Awards, but now it's transpired that a key staff member is already leaving both the project and studio.

Design director Drew Murray confirmed over Twitter that, after helping found The Initiative two years ago and rebooting Perfect Dark (which hasn't had a new entry since the 2010 remaster on Xbox 360), he is stepping down from his position. He doesn't go into too much detail as to why, only saying that his life outside of work needs more attention.

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Fortunately, he's not parting on bad terms, saying his time at the studio was extraordinary and many of the people he worked with are now great friends, after initially joining knowing nobody. Xbox head Phil Spencer even gives him a fond farewell in the replies. Murray adds that the announcement trailer for the new Perfect Dark still gives him goosebumps and that his silver lining is that he'll get to experience the game first-hand come launch day.

Murray previously worked at Insomniac, where he contributed to several Ratchet & Clank games, starting with 2005's Ratchet: Deadlocked, the Resistance series, and Sunset Overdrive. It was then in 2018 that he left to help start up The Initiative.

While there is still a lot fans don't know about the upcoming Perfect Dark game, outside of rumors, theories, and that initial cinematic trailer, the studio is known to be comprised of a veritable all-star team of games industry veterans. The head of the studio, Darrell Gallagher, for example, has been a part of the industry as early as 1997. He's worked at Sony, Rockstar, and THQ to name a few and has overseen production on some of the best games in recent memory, like Hitman and Destiny 2.

Microsoft was even able to grab some Sony talent. Namely, former Naughty Dog staff whose resumes include Uncharted 4 and The Last of Us Part 2, as well as several developers who worked on God of War. These games are considered to be among the PlayStation 4's best exclusives, so expectations for Perfect Dark are extremely high if these are the kind of people working on it.

Perfect Dark is in development for Xbox platforms.

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