id Software Reportedly Prepping a Perfect Dark Reboot Pitch Before Layoffs

Perfect Dark’s long-rumored return is facing another setback, with reports suggesting id Software had already been preparing a reboot pitch before Xbox cut a large portion of the studio’s workforce.

id Software Had Been Considering A Reboot Of Perfect Dark

In interviews with some of the people let go from id Software, it was revealed the studio was working on multiple pitches for Xbox at the time of the layoffs. The company had been in-between projects, having just wrapped up the Revelations expansion for Doom: The Dark Ages.

That timing made the situation especially risky for a supporting studio: when a parent publisher has already invested in an in-progress effort, it’s often harder to justify layoffs right away. In this case, id Software’s “in-between” status appears to have left it more exposed.

The pitches id Software prepared for Xbox included four concepts: an original game titled Fury, a reboot of Perfect Dark, a Western survival project codenamed Ironwood, and a co-op Doom game.

For the Perfect Dark reboot specifically, the studio had a presentation and concept art ready. However, details on what the reboot would have looked like or how it would have differed from The Initiative’s cancelled reboot attempt last year aren’t available in the report.

Fury, described as the brainchild of studio co-director Hugo Martin, was planned to mix noir and cyberpunk vibes, paired with gunfights designed to feel reminiscent of the action style from the John Wick film franchise. Ironwood, meanwhile, was intended as a survival-focused Western featuring robots, with a structure likened to Westworld.

Layoffs Leave id Software In A Tough Spot

Beyond the Perfect Dark discussion, the report also paints a worrying picture of id Software’s near-term prospects. It notes that Halo—the once-dominant flagship of Xbox—isn’t performing well.

With more than half of the staff laid off, continuing as a full-scale AAA studio appears unlikely. One of the dismissed employees said, “I’m not convinced there is a viable way forward. It feels like a bunch of knee-jerk responses.”

Xbox layoffs have reportedly become more frequent in recent years, but the most recent round is described as among the biggest the industry has seen. The shake-up includes five studios being spun out, sold, or otherwise handled—Arkane is noted as having an undefined outcome—along with large layoffs across Zenimax-owned studios such as id Software and Obsidian. The net result is that Xbox Game Studios is said to be quickly shrinking into something far less substantial than it used to be.

id Software itself—founded in 1991 by John Romero, John Carmack, Tom Hall, and Adrian Carmack—is now largely stripped of its former staff. With that kind of disruption, the report concludes that it’s hard to imagine a future beyond support work.

What To Watch Next

• Whether Xbox revisits any of id Software’s submitted concepts, especially the Perfect Dark reboot pitch.
• How other studios in Xbox Game Studios are reorganized following the layoffs at Zenimax-owned teams like id and Obsidian.
• What support-only plans (if any) replace id Software’s traditional role moving forward.