One week after Perfect Dark developer Crystal Dynamics laid off an undisclosed number of staff members, a new report stated that a deal with Take-Two Interactive to salvage the canceled reboot fell through. The failed negotiations between Embracer Group and Take-Two to save Perfect Dark subsequently resulted in the layoffs at Crystal Dynamics after the companies could not agree on the game's ownership rights.
On August 27, Crystal Dynamics conducted its second round of layoffs in 2025. The layoffs were announced over a month after Microsoft closed The Initiative, the studio that brought in Crystal Dynamics to assist with Perfect Dark's troubled development. The shuttering of The Initiative was part of a massive company-wide layoff wave from Microsoft in July, which saw over 9,000 former staff members released across the board. Microsoft stated the layoffs were part of a company-wide restructuring amidst the tumultuous challenges that the gaming and tech industries continue to face.
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A Deal To Save Perfect Dark Fell Through Between Embracer And Take-Two
One week after Crystal Dynamics announced the layoffs, a new report shed some light on the reasons behind the studio's decision. As reported by Jason Schreier of Bloomberg, a potential deal between Embracer, which owns Crystal Dynamics, and Take-Two fell apart. Sources familiar with the negotiations stated that the deal did not move forward since Take-Two and Embracer could not come to terms on deciding which studio would purchase ownership of the Perfect Dark IP from Microsoft. After acquiring Rare in 2002, the IP rights to Perfect Dark and other franchises were transferred to Microsoft and subsequently to Xbox Game Studios. With Crystal Dynamics unable to secure the funding needed to give Perfect Dark a second chance, the studio was forced to let go of an undisclosed number of staff members.
It is not clear which of Crystal Dynamics' three offices were impacted by the late August layoffs. Despite the industry-wide layoffs that continue to make the headlines across the gaming industry, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella stated in July that the tech giant was thriving and focused on relevance rather than longevity. Despite the cancellation of Perfect Dark, Crystal Dynamics stated that the layoffs had no impact on the Tomb Raider franchise.
Although details about the next Tomb Raider project remain elusive as of this writing, franchise protagonist Lara Croft continues to appear in crossovers with various games like Dead By Daylight. It remains to be seen when Crystal Dynamics will share more information about its plans following the failed Perfect Dark reboot.
- Developer(s)
- The Initiative
- Publisher(s)
- Xbox Game Studios
- Franchise
- Perfect Dark
