Given the platform provided when officially unveiling the forming for first-party studio The Initiative, plenty of details in regards to the new developer was left pretty bare in terms of what the development team will be pursuing for its inaugural title. For one thing, the Santa Monica-based studio will be comprised of industry leading and well-seasoned developers from all realms of the market.
So predicting on what the first project might be from The Initiative is virtually the only worry that stands in front of the team’s issues. Fast forwarding to this past December during The Game Awards, The Initiative finally came out from hiding to provide the first nod to its upcoming work – Perfect Dark. Derived from the titular franchise which originated from Rare, the series is returning with The Initiative at the helm.
And while the title is still in early development as per a statement from the developer, there is some upsetting news in regards to the staff at The Initiative. In that, former Insomniac Games developer Drew Murray on Twitter announced to be leaving the team.
Murray continues by writing, “it’s been extraordinary working shoulder-to-shoulder with such a talented and experienced team, many of whom are great friends now, but my life outside of work needs more attention and headspace than I have been able to give it lately, so I’m stepping down from my role.”
The Sunset Overdrive developer back in 2018 announced to be joining the studio which kicked off a campaign of other prominent faces from other well-established studios migrating over to the Xbox developer. He concludes by encouraging fans to keep their hopes high as he accompanies the masses when the Perfect Dark reboot officially arrives.
Among bombastic additions to The Initiative in the past couple of years, fans continue to watch high-level developers hop from Naught Dog, Santa Monica Studio, and Rockstar Games to work on what we now know is an exciting reworking of Perfect Dark. Most recently, it was discovered on LinkedIn that Francisco Aisa García after coming off of The Last of US Part II & Red Dead Redemption II will be working at the studio. You can read the full report by heading here.
Are you upset by the recent leaving of Drew Murray from The Initiative?
