Xbox says it ‘jumped at the chance’ to work with Crystal Dynamics on Perfect Dark

Xbox Game Studios boss Matt Booty has said that partnering with Crystal Dynamics on the upcoming Perfect Dark reboot was a no-brainer.

[FallenAngel1984]

Booty makes great partnerships

[Lightning77]

I would to if I had 70 man staff working on a Big project. How can you remain efficient with a tiny staff? They need at least 100 more ppl and CD was the perfect fit for them.

[Sayai jin]

Yes, I remember them saying they had a talented, but small team. They said it was to stay agile. I think the partenership/teamiing up with SE is a multi-purpose situation.

[Ausbo]

Well also I think the pandemic hindered them in staffing up to make a big game. They were staying small at first, but they will have to get bigger if they want to pump out those large AAA or (AAAA) games

[--Onilink--]

Well, you cant suddenly create a new studio and begin production on a new game with 200-300 people out of the blue.

Even on existing large studios, development ramps up gradually and as it does, so does the headcount. No game starts development with 100+ already involved.

My guess is that they decided to keep their natural growth (in terms of headcount) separate by doing this collaboration since they were not going to be able to suddenly hire that many people

[NeoGamer232]

I find it funny you get disagrees with a comment like that.

The people disagreeing know absolutely nothing about software/game development.

Your comment is spot on.

[Sayai jin]

That's how N4G is unfortunately.

[rlow1]

I think the setup for The Initiative is for their 70 people to flesh out the ideas, mechanics, look and feel of the game. Then bring in a hired gun to ramp up production. Crystal Dynamics happened to be available and I'm sure Square Enix didn't mind the money.

[darthv72]

CD knows a thing or two about female protagonist based games.

[Sciurus_vulgaris]

I don’t think the sex of character directly affects how a game plays. Crystal Dynamics has experience making action-adventure games and they have worked with Darrel Gallagher on past projects. The Tomb Raider reboot trilogy was well generally well received. Therefore, I think Crystal Dynamics is a good co-developer for the Perfect Dark reboot.

[jBlakeeper]

Oh yeah it does affect how a game plays. More than you think. You should “feel” like your playing as a female in every aspect of the game.

[NotoriousWhiz]

^ the heck?

Guy or girl, the gameplay should be exactly the same. Only difference is the story. Definitely should not "feel" like a girl while playing it lol. Instead you should just feel like a badass.

[Godmars290]

@NotoriousWhiz:
Guy would play based on strength, girl play based on agility.

[TheDoomedGuy]

Not really.

[enkiduxiv]

Jesse Fayden and Alloy>>>>>The new Laura Croft

If anything, I would say Crystal Dynamics could learn a thing or two about writing compelling female protagonists.

[-Foxtrot]

I don’t know why you’re getting disagrees

The new Lara is terribly written

[CaptainHenry916]

I just hope it's not like Tomb raider gameplay. I want the game to have it's own identity and be original

[darthv72]

Given one is a fps and the other a 3rd person action platformer... i think you are safe.

[Deathdeliverer]

Ok I know I’m going to get flamed for this but…. I always thought it was strange when companies have to go get a partnership with third party companies to make FIRST party titles. Not some side game like Zelda musou. That makes sense. But if Nintendo had Namco make the new true entry in the series it would be concerning. It’s like Microsoft doesn’t even know what to do with rare to be honest. Don’t get me wrong, game could be phenomenal. I’m not discounting it. But picture EA making the next Forza. Or Platinum making God of war Ragnarok. I’d be like damn… Sony doesn’t have its own developers, think tanks, and skill set to make their own game? If this was a Perfect Dark spin-off it would be ok. Maybe this doesn’t make sense to some. I kinda wish Microsoft never bought Rare. As annoying as Nintendo is with their online these days, they definitely know how to use their first party teams. For lack of a better term it’s like they believe in them. So many rare titles haven’t been seen and when they were, they were ass on Xbox.

[darthv72]

Nintendo did have sega and namco make the mario kart arcade game. So it can and does happen. Even for big companies.

As for rare, they are busy making everwild and expansions to sea of thieves.

[Deathdeliverer]

@Darth

That’s a spin-off (to my point- bonus points because those are two of the few companies still in the arcade industry)

[--Onilink--]

They also helped out on Smash Bros on WiiU

And Sega helped out with FZero on gamecube

[Deathdeliverer]

@onlink

F zero X was on GameCube. Made by and published by Nintendo. Nintendo wanted to put Fzero in the arcade. That’s where the spin-off Fzero GX and then AX came from. The arcade board was made by Nintendo, Sega, and Namco. Sega had Arcade experience and made GX followed by AX. Point is they are all spin-offs from nintendos original game, Fzero X.

As far as Smash U it’s an anomaly. Sakurai and Harada are buddies. Nintendo lets Sakurai do whatever the hell he wants and Namco lets Harada do whatever the hell he wants. For all intents and purposes you’re right on that one. Smash and Tekken just happen to be made by two people with the most freedom in video game history. Still, that’s why I said most of the time. This is an exception, not the rule.

[darthv72]

@death, fzero x was n64. GX is gamecube and AX is arcade. What you are calling a spin off is nothing of the sort. Uncharted: lost legacy, that is an example of a spinoff. GX is its own entry in the series and AX is the arcade equivalent. And sega / namco helped where they were asked by nintendo. There is no shame in that.

[Ausbo]

Not sure why you are talking about Rare. This article has nothing to do with that studio.

Anyways, partnerships for games are nothing new. In fact, most big budget games have third party support studios. The odd thing about this is that it’s a big AAA studio like crystal and that Microsoft announced it. Why announce a studio is helping you with a game.

[Deathdeliverer]

@Ausbo

Hmmm…. The article is about Perfect Dark. You’re right. Who made Perfect Dark I wonder? Hmmm…. I know that game was on Nintendo systems but who bought that company??? Why can’t I remember…. Someone owns the IP AND the Dev….. crap forget it. I don’t know why I brought up rare. My bad.

And a third party partnership… That’s NORMALLY a side story (Halo wars) OR a whole new series (Sunset Overdrive). This is a mainline game. It’s Perfect Dark. Give me a mainline game from Sony or Nintendo that was made by a third party. I’m not going to type all that again. Maybe you should reread my man.

[TheDoomedGuy]

Well yeah absolutely nothing to Dow it's rare...except for that they created the IP.

[--Onilink--]

Nintendo literally had Namco help out with the development of Smash Bros on WiiU and 3DS

[Ausbo]

You asked for studios. God of war 2018 outsourced work to Valkyrie entertainment.
Naughty dog outsourced development of last of us 2 to secret6.
I could keep going, but I’m bored with your ignorance.

The size of the studio they are outsourcing to is unprecedented for sure. But that’s about it

As far as rare is concerned, why do you think they should work on this game. They have almost 0 staff from back in the nintendo days. As far as I’m concerned, this studio has zero to do with perfect dark nowadays.

[Deathdeliverer]

@Ausbo

Funny thing is you brought up ignorance lol!!! Don’t know how you got a upvote. Valkyrie Entertainment is a art studio. They didn’t MAKE the game lol. Guess what secret6 is? A art studio!!! Now… since you’re on a roll… do you think Crystal Dynamics is a art studio to assist with Art direction…. or a game developer that is going to actually MAKE the game. Take your time. Don’t want to look ignorant here do you Ausbo…

[Ausbo]

Didn’t realize art production isn’t video game development.

So all the people who work in the art department in studios aren’t making the game?

Educate yourself.

[ColtPSSX]

You almost had him there bro but I’m going to have to give it death this round.

I think there is a big difference with getting help with the art work and actually developing the game.

I see no problem with getting help but I see his point.

[Sciurus_vulgaris]

@Death

Metroid Dread, is mainline title in its series and it was developed by a 3rd party studio. Metroid Dread, like predecessor Metroid: Samus Returns, was developed by Mercury Steam. Bandai-Namco also co-develops the Smash Bro titles for Nintendo.

Microsoft also outsourced development of Flight Simulator (2020) to Asobo. Gears Tactics and Halo Wars 2 were respectively developed by Splash Damage and Creative Assembly. I don’t believe there was any controversy over the development of the titles I just mentioned. So I don’t see what’s wrong with Microsoft outsourcing co-development of Perfect Dark.

[Deathdeliverer]

@Sciurus

I said in my original post that side games/spin offs were times it made sense. Flight simulator isn’t a game in the truest sense. It doesn’t have a storyline to follow, characters to represent, so on. It’s Simulator. It’s been going since floppy disk. Totally different. Metroid Dread I know nothing about. I’m kinda over this whole topic to be honest. You guys are kinda proving me right at every turn and it’s really not that serious. I hope it’s good, I have gamepass so I’m sure I’ll play it. Just can’t help but feel like when mainline games get passed off the publisher doesn’t know what to do with it anymore. Period.

[FlavorLav01]

There’s a big difference. If it’s just “help” why not bring in another small no-name studio to assist. Why bring in an existing AAA game team to “help” development. It’s stinks of a bail-out to me for Xbox’s new “AAAA” team. That’s the difference.

[neutralgamer1992]

I know a lot of gamers are looking forward to this series making a huge comeback so hopefully it is great and lives up to all the fan expectations

[Godmars290]

After starting the project and once it was well into development.

[FanboysKiller]

Crystal Dynamics is still kicking , these guys are amazing.

[EvertonFC]

Of course they jumped at the chance, xbox gamers are still waiting for games after 10 years.