Gab Hernandez 
The Perfect Dark franchise lives but while fans now know about its gameplay changes and developer, details like its release date and platforms remain unclear.
Although it isn’t as iconic as Goldeneye 007 for the Nintendo 64, Rare’s follow-up first-person shooter Perfect Dark nevertheless cultivated a dedicated fandom. Rare’s beloved sci-fi action series saw enough success to warrant Microsoft’s greenlight of a reboot in 2018. Since then, the game’s development has undergone several issues.
However, the long wait may finally be over. During the 2024 Xbox Games Showcase, Microsoft finally unveiled a gameplay trailer for the upcoming Perfect Dark reboot. After years of no news, fans were excited to see what the six years of development have accomplished. While the reception was decidedly mixed, the game looks positioned to be one of the biggest Xbox releases of the year.
What is the release date of the Perfect Dark reboot?
Xbox has not announced a release date for the Perfect Dark reboot.
Unfortunately, despite a hefty three-minute gameplay trailer, there’s still no concrete release date for the reboot. Even so, it’s also one of the few showcases that actually showed off gameplay.
That alone communicates that a significant amount of progress has been made, which should come as a relief for fans. The gameplay showcased several classic staples of immersive sim gameplay, from sprawling maps, something that differentiates it from the previous games made by Rare.
New Perfect Dark brings immersive sim and parkour gameplay elements
Perfect Dark is being developed by Crystal Dynamics, which is implementing some of the dynamic movement it included in the Tomb Raider games.
While the first two games were mostly grounded, the reboot has dynamic, parkour-like movement elements in a first-person perspective. This was likened by many to Mirror’s Edge. Joanna Dark scales walls and jumps around, hinting at the game giving players freedom in how they want to tackle a level. The map design also brings to mind the modern Hitman games and Deus Ex, with highly detailed interiors and sleek level design.
Of course, how “immersive sim” the game gets remains a mystery. Overall, the Perfect Dark reboot’s progress seems a lot farther along than many initially expected.
The trailer was a massive change from just a few years ago when the development team would see constant delays. Whether it was the pandemic or leadership changes, Perfect Dark’s continued survival in a time of mass layoffs is a miracle. Fans of the franchise hope the dev team pulls off another miracle by releasing the game sometime soon.
