Perfect Dark [XBSX|S, PC, XGP]

They are saying the game has a GoPeo/Mirror's Edge/Dying Light movement so it's definitely going to be very different gameplay compared to the original (and I'm all for that).

 

Yeah, its way too early to just write it off. We will see by then, when we know more and actual gameplay is shown what the game is about.

 

It Certainly helps that Alan Hartman, the studio head of turn 10 is involved with the DirectX team in some way. Turn 10 really is the tech development studio at Microsoft.

Somewhat unrelated, but Alan Hartman's LinkedIn says that he has been the Vice president of Forza and Fable since June of 2018 (when playground was acquired) so fable is surely going to be a looker! Its good to see that turn 10 and playground are remaining sisters studios between all the teams. Also, there is a rumour that fable is running on a version of forzatech, which might explain why forza motorsport is so early in development, they might have been working on the 'FableTech' Engine. Turn 10 has always been said to be an incredibly productive studio.

 

Still early in development. Pre-production, still? This suggest 2-3 years from release at minimum.

 

I mean TI is a small Studio with ~70 Devs + never thought about a release before 2023.

I read here and there that Jeff Grubb said that MS internally had a 2023 release date but who knows

 

This really makes me curious what TI have been up to so far. It seems like they have a vision for the world, story and gameplay. Presumably they have plenty of prototype systems and levels already.

I hope they've nailed the dynamic first person 'spy' movement they talked about at the announcement (jumping under and over cars etc). Couples with PD gadgets it should make a fun mix.

 

Should this be concerning for real & just for trolls? I understand the team is small & the game wasn't officially announced until last year, but damn the optics just don't look good. You have a first party that bills itself as a "AAAA" developer & started in 2018, but now has to co-develop the game with an outside multiplatform developer with a not-so-great track record. Granted first party developers outsource tons & tons of work to outside parties. Both sides do it all of the time. But this announcement just feels different. The only way this makes sense is if Microsoft planned on buying them & they did this instead. Or maybe a purchase is still down the road? Just don't know what to think. Guess I could go either way.

Tommy McClain

 

Not sure anyone knows a ton of info about TI but if you go to their Wiki page history in the first sentence: "The Initiative, a new internal video game development company led by Darrell Gallagher, who had previously served as studio head of Crystal Dynamics." Maybe Gallagher pushed to bring Crystal Dynamics in on this project. He obviously has strong ties to Crystal Dynamics so maybe that makes it a natural fit IDK.

 

Nah, I think if you're making a big game, you need a lot of people and a lot of talent. AAAA really might be more representative of the development costs to make the game than it is the outcome of the game.

Crystal Dynamics is an incredibly talented team; game direction and vision can be handled by the people at TI, but you need a huge ensemble of a team to put together a vision. I really feel like a top tier developer like CD can do a lot of good for them.

I have no idea what engine they are going with right now, so there may be specific reasons why one studio is chosen over the other.

But some things stick to mind; you need studios that support Mo-Cap etc. The Initiative may have hired a lot of top tier talent, but you still need to make content and that content requires gear. Ubisoft Toronto has a mo-cap studio that is used a lot now for Ubisoft, and not necessarily all Ubisoft studios have mo-cap floors to do things with.

So there could be a lot of things that TI has, but is also deficient in; and they will need more studios to help in those areas where they don't have the equipment, gear or setup to support.

 

Just watched this and mirrors much of your thoughts. I also found it odd. I'm not saying it's crashing and burning.

 

No need to be concerned. It's a positive move in what they're doing. In order to get faster traction they could have outsourced with 5 or 6 smaller studios but then have additional overhead and complexities in coordination. Instead they outsourced with one of the larger well known studios with a history of positive results such as Tomb Raider. This is a good thing.

 

Or the scope is just massive, and they want whatever this thing is to be part of the game so CD will handle it.

Thinking out loud, if there was a bit desire for a large online component, which MS is known to do. To design a purely separated online game of perfect dark when compared to the single player, CD was likely brought in while TI works elsewhere overseeing it all.

Ie: think RDR2 and RDR2 Online. GTAV and GTA Online.

 

Many games use outsourcing for their development. The thing is, people didn't flip their minds and spin it as being bad, just take a look at these others games:

"Over 14 studios worked on The Last of Us part 2"

https://www.vg247.com/the-last-of-us-part-2-cast-crew


"God of War: Ragnarok Getting Help from Valkyrie Entertainment"

 

Here's some solid takes from Klobrille because he said it better than most could:

---
"To me this just shows how insanely uninformed "gamers" (and even some media people) actually are about real life game development. Every AAA production has outsourcing, sometimes with dozens of studios. The only difference here is that the outsourcing studio is a prominent one."

"For now this will basically be just an outsourcing contract to boost development. Think World's Edge - Relic on Age of Empires IV. The core team at The Initiative is obviously very strong, but it's a mid-sized studio with 70 devs. Outsourcing is always needed in AAA development."

"This is another good point, yes. Budget will be big for this one. Having Crystal Dynamics helping won’t be cheap and shows the commitment of believing in the pre-production and concept created by The Initiative here."

 

The fact that many companies outsource is why I found it an even stranger thing to promote, especially the way it was done.
As I said, I don't think it means it's crashing and burning or anything like that, I just found it an odd announcement personally.

Instead of it being the initiative game (with support studios), it looks like a joint venture.

 

Dunno, maybe someone thought it was a good idea in marketing and instead it's completely backfired. Or there is a clause because this is probably a rare scenario in which a well known and published developer is working with another studio on a project. Perhaps marketing terms etc.

 

I'd say that depends on who has the decision making abilities. If all that is with The Initiative then I'd say its still their game. This doesn't seem like they both had the idea and vision and are working towards that to be considered a joint venture.

 

It would come out that CD are helping TI produce PD eventually. Better say now and avoid confusion later. It'll drop out of the news cycle in 5...4...3...2..

 

I'm sure it is the initiatives game, but the perception now will be that its a joint venture.

Joint billing compared to supporting role kind of thing.
Not sure if that's how you want your first title from your self proclaimed AAAA studio to be perceived as. But better that than struggling with relevant resources.