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[Bernkastel]

they shouldve been up to 200-300 or whatever an AAA game needs nowadays.

They are like only 68 employees according to LinkedIn.

 

[octiny]

Sounds like a perfect fit. They developed the first two entries in the TR reboot (3rd was handed off to the Dues Ex: Mankind Divided devs).

Definitely looking forward to this now!

 

[R3claimer117]

A lot of recent MS's announcements feel pretty premature. The Outer Worlds 2 trailer literally made fun that it was still in the conceptual stage.

I mean that’s just obsidian sense of humor. The outer worlds was a planned trilogy I’m sure they aren’t just announcing the game to just annoy in it besides they have multiple teams working on different projects including avowed grounded and sawyers game. Why are you behaving like Sony or Nintendo announce games and the come out in 6months infacr microst has a better track record of announcing things that are actually closer to coming out.

 

[StateofMajora]

Hmm, this game is either going to be great or mediocre. Do they have grant kirkhope on sound?

I hope CD is just the coding/modeling backup and has less of a creative role.

 

[sublimit]

LOOOL, super AAAA studio needs help.

I think this would be a better result in the end. However, it does raise more questions regarding the studio (the Initiative).

At the offset, this new Microsoft studio brought a lot of talents and being hyped for making "AAAA game", then we knew that they are working on a new Perfect Dark game.

No gameplay footage was ever shown to the public before with no release window, and then this announcement.

Didn't they said that for Halo Infinite as well?

 

[Stuart360]

Didn't they said that for Halo Infinite as well?

No, no they didnt.

 

[CamHostage]

Well thats on Microsoft for literally announcing the game with a CG trailer before anything substantial was being done in its development. IT'S ALSO their fault for waiting a whole gen to fucking invest in studios. People have literally waited a whole fucking gen for Microsoft to step the fuck up. Only thing they could do was whip out their check books.

...and fire up Autodesk Maya to make those CGI teasers once somebody is done PhotoShopping the logo.

 

[Hayabusabruh]

Crystal Dynamics? Amazing butt confirmed.

 

[Porcile]

So definitely not a semi-open FPS game? Has anyone at Microsoft actually played Perfect Dark or this is going to be a wanky vanity project?

 

[ManaByte]

Shadow sucked for me. Loved the first 2 games though.
From what i read it was Square themselves that forced CD to go in the 'less action more puzzles' angle with Shadow, after a vocal minority wouldnt shut up about the first 2 games 'not being what TR is about'.

CD didn't develop Shadow. Eidos Montreal made it because CD was doing Avengers.

 

[3liteDragon]

So definitely not a semi-open FPS game? Has anyone at Microsoft actually played Perfect Dark or this is going to be a wanky vanity project?

 

[Artistic]

Doesn't hurt I guess.

Just from the teaser screenshot, 3rd person would be fire too.

 

[Stuart360]

CD didn't develop Shadow. Eidos Montreal made it because CD was doing Avengers.

Which i already said. CD are still worked on the game though as support if you check the credits.
The point still stands though, the devs were told to change the gameplay by Square, according to what i read.

 

[ManaByte]

Which i already said. CD are still worked on the game though as support if you check the credits.
The point still stands though, the devs were told to change the gameplay by Square, according to what i read.

Shadow was the best of the reboot trilogy though.

 

[Stuart360]

Shadow was the best of the reboot trilogy though.

Cool, i thought it was the worst.

 

[ManaByte]

Cool, i thought it was the worst.

Maybe you need to watch camera footage recorded off-screen of someone playing it to appreciate it.

 

[Stuart360]

Maybe you need to watch camera footage recorded off-screen of someone playing it to appreciate it.

Er i own the game.

 

[ManaByte]

Er i own the game.

 

[Xenon]

After that first trailer that focused on climate change or "eco sci fi", Im totally shocked. I guess they couldn't fit decent gameplay in their grand vision.

This sounds like a good move to focus development on making something people will want to play. Joanna Dark with a bow... I'm game.

 

[MarkMe2525]

I really liked the tomb raider reboot so sounds good.

 

[Rhazer Fusion]

How is this game still considered "early development" from that tweet by The Initiative? Studio was formed 3 years ago, starting to push 4 years ago next year. I wonder when actual gameplay gets shown?

That seems to be a trend with a lot of these XBOX exclusive games. To my knowledge, some of these studios were purchased in 2017, yet we are still seeing CGI trailers and no gameplay in late 2021.

 

[LordCBH]

Please just be good. Please.

 

[DeepEnigma]

 

[Ozzie666]

Of all the studios that have somehow remained open, I can't believe these guys are one of them. So many quality developers go bankrupt, but here they are still standing. Boggles my mind, not that I want people to lose jobs. Feel like they are creatively bankrupt, like a mini UBI SOFT. No personality anymore.

 

[LiquidRex]

So Crystal Dynamics a subsidiary of Square Enix is helping on the development of an Xbox exclusive title... Anything in it, or just a normal day at the office.

 

[KAOS]

Hopefully they are assisting with a third person option!

 

[abacab driver]

Can not wait to see this game in action.

 

[CamHostage]

Weird. I wonder how this partnership came together

I'm assuming Crystal D is helping with the design aspect?

I don't understand how it works, at all. Crystal Dynamics is owned/operated by Square Enix /Eidos (does Eidos still exist?,) who have multiple brands for their parent company in the works (including rescuing the GaaS Avengers from disappearing, as has been mentioned,) but one publisher can go to another publisher and go, "Hey, your guys know our guys, can you have some of them come over and help make our game?" At least with something like a Bloodborne or a Mass Effect, I kind of get it that the publisher is harvesting another publisher's IP for them and they share where makes sense, but this is weird. CD's got plenty of their own work to do, and Square Enix has Square and Enix (and Eidos) games to make, they're not a work-for-hire gunslinger.

Meanwhile there's plenty of other independent studios out there who would gladly take on a co-developer credit for a Microsoft project. This would have been a nice feather for an indie or a good extra job for a stalwart workhorse (imagine if Remedy was doing this instead of/in addition to Crossfire X / Control 2.) Crystal D doesn't need this name on their record (and IMO, it's lose-lose optics for the publishers that MS can't have its own studios make its own games while Square Enix can't keep their own studios busy enough with the brands they own.)

The head of initiative used to be the head of crystal dynamics.

Well, the connection makes sense, at least. Sort of? I feel that's a little like going to your ex-wife and saying, "Hey, I know I left you for somebody else, but we made some good kids together, how about you come over for a little while and help me start my new family?"

If these people at CD were free to take on other jobs, you'd think Initiative/MS would just have poached them and bolstered their own workforce. (Then again, maybe that's what almost happened and Square Enix found a way to have it both ways?)

You just don't do this in the games business... but also, you just don't go buy up a major publisher, either. It's a new day.

 

[Reave]

When do you think that Wolverine game is coming out?

Not sure, but they probably won’t need to partner with Crystal Dynamics to finish it.

 

[Deleted member 471617]

Super hyped for this!!! Makes perfect sense and could be a test run for Square Enix to unload Crystal Dynamics and Microsoft would be a perfect fit.

 

[Ghost of Caelid]

I'd be super excited because they just had horrible design direction on Marvel's Avengers. They did amazing work on the Tomb Raider titles.

And in before everybody forgets they were calling Rise of the Tomb Raider a better game than Shadow of the Tomb Raider, and quickly tries to go back and edit their posts.

i do agree the tomb raider games were great. But this is supposed to be MS flagship studio...not a solid 82-85 kind of studio. I don't want the crystal dynamics team to essentially make a first person tomb raider game. I want the initiative team to lead the direction and have the dynamics team there to do the dirty work they needed for. But with the games director essentially getting his old team back I'm a bit meh about this news.

 

[Men_in_Boxes]

Ewwww...Crystal Dynamics?

 

[Magic Carpet]

I'm looking up a list of Crystal Dynamic games on Wikipedia. I see they made 'The Horde'.
I still have the game though my Saturn is dead. Is full motion video making a comeback? Perfect Dark is going to be a new strategy game?

 

[Ezekiel_]

It's good that Microsoft is finally spending money to make games. Let developers get that war chest money and take as much time as they want.

So they are basically outsourcing Perfect Dark. So much for building a "AAAA" studio. I hope Crystal Dynamics have a good and profitable contract.

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

What the hell have all those Blue Haireds been doing for like 4 years????

This project must be a trainwreck. Lost their Creative Director to Insomniac and now they need a bailout by a third party studio.

Maybe Papa Phil will come through with the acquisition

 

[Stuart360]

What the hell have all those Blue Haireds been doing for like 4 years????

This project must be a trainwreck. Lost their Creative Director to Insomniac and now they need a bailout by a third party studio.

Maybe Papa Phil will come through with the acquisition

Not surprised to see the same avatars with the same doom and gloom outlook on this,.
I mean does it sound like something negative from the Twitter posts?. Everyone involved in this seems to be loving this lol. And if it means the game coming quicker then i'm all for it.

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

Not surprised to see the same avatars with the same doom and gloom outlook on this,.
I mean does it sound like something negative from the Twitter posts?. Everyone involved in this seems to be loving this lol. And if it means the game coming quicker then i'm all for it.

I have doom and gloom for any studio that seems to be fucking around. Not too happy with Naughty Dog either.

Of course this isn't announced as a "negative". But the reason they needed to partner to begin with is because The Initiative couldn't handle it themselves. This was supposed to be Microsoft's big AAA studio built from the ground up. Their name is "The Initiative" afterall. Seeems like they could use a little more.

 

[Stuart360]

I have doom and gloom for any studio that seems to be fucking around. Not too happy with Naughty Dog either.

Of course this isn't announced as a "negative". But the reason they needed to partner to begin with is because The Initiative couldn't handle it themselves. This was supposed to be Microsoft's big AAA studio built from the ground up. Their name is "The Initiative" afterall. Seeems like they could use a little more.

There isnt a AAA game released today that doesnt outsource work to multiple studios, not one. You only have to watch credits to see this.

I read The Initiative had 50 devs, someone in this thread said it says 70 desv on their lindekin. Thats a decent amount for a AA game, not a AAA game in this day and age. Like i alrady said, i'm sure The Initiative will be the ones who designed the game, and are making the decisions, with CD helping build the game.

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

There isnt a AAA game released today that doesnt outsource work to multiple studios, not one. You only have to watch credits to see this.

I read The Initiative had 50 devs, someone in this thread said it says 70 desv on their lindekin. Thats a decent amount for a AA game, not a AAA game in this day and age. Like i alrady said, i'm sure The Initiative will be the ones who designed the game, and are making the decisions, with CD helping build the game.

I thought I read they had well over 100 devs a few years ago. Could be mistaken.

Either way, it sucks that we're here like 3-4 years later with nothing tangible to show. Good that they are getting additional help, but this should have occurred years ago.

 

[BennyBlanco]

Not sure, but they probably won’t need to partner with Crystal Dynamics to finish it.

They have like 4x as many employees so I would hope not

 

[Magnific0giganticus]

 

[Stuart360]

I thought I read they had well over 100 devs a few years ago. Could be mistaken.

Either way, it sucks that we're here like 3-4 years later with nothing tangible to show. Good that they are getting additional help, but this should have occurred years ago.

Well we might not be 3 or 4 years now with CD on board. We already know they had something built already as Phil was shown playing it. My complete guess is that it was just going to take way too long to finish totally inhouse, so help was brought on board.

 

[Porcile]

I meant the N64 game and even Perfect Dark Zero at a stretch.

 

[EDMIX]

Its Insomniac, it will probably be out in a year lol.

Unlikely. They are indeed a fast studio and the best in the world at turn around, but when Spiderman came out, the year before they didn't put anything out for the first time in years.

WIth a new IP, they are building new systems, designs, concepts and I think it takes a bit longer for them to put such games out the first time around.

So if Spider-man 2 is 2023, Wolverine is 2025 (with Ratchet again in 2024 lol) I'd be shocked if they legit have it out by 2024 tbh

 

[GhostOfTsu]

What was CD working on after Avengers? You don't need a full team for DLC? They should be helping Square Japan with all their games in development hell instead of helping MS. Square is a mess.

 

[SenjutsuSage]

This is the perfect possible studio to help Initiative with this game. They're also a studio that, to this point, along with id Software, people can fly, the coalition and I/O who have done among the best optimization work on Series X.

i do agree the tomb raider games were great. But this is supposed to be MS flagship studio...not a solid 82-85 kind of studio. I don't want the crystal dynamics team to essentially make a first person tomb raider game. I want the initiative team to lead the direction and have the dynamics team there to do the dirty work they needed for. But with the games director essentially getting his old team back I'm a bit meh about this news.

It's pretty clear The Initiative is the lead on design and direction for this one. Crystal Dynamics makes some of the best character driven cinematic game experiences in the business. Tomb Raider 2013 and Rise of the Tomb Raider were both excellent games. They're technically talented, have tremendous skill and expertise, and they have experience with the top guy at the Initiative.

This is the team, believe it or not, I always hoped The Initiative could be, but thought there's no way they're getting Crystal from Square.

 

[Men_in_Boxes]

I still think it's funny that Microsoft even thought this property was worth reviving. It was always a shit IP. Hell, Fable is a pretty mediocre IP, but it's gold compared to this.

Perfect Dark was only ever worth a damn when it was a reskinned Goldeneye, and that was over *twenty* years ago.

Videogame based on high tech gadgets, guns, espionage, and aliens is worthless.

 

[sendit]

Early development? WTF have they been doing at Initiative for past 3 years?



Welcome to Microsoft's studio management.

The Initiative has released more footage of them talking about a game that they're making then actual gameplay of a game they're making.

 

[Corndog]

Weird. I wonder how this partnership came together

I'm assuming Crystal D is helping with the design aspect?

I think the head initiative guy worked for crystal dynamics.

 

[sendit]

The last game that Crystal Dynamics touched was this: https://crystald.com/projects/marvels-avengers/

I believe Microsoft is about to reach the pinnacle of what a triple A title can become by partnering with Crystal Dynamics.