It looks like Perfect Dark has lost its game director

Dan Neuburger is The Initiative's second major design departure in a year.

[Orchard]

The reality is this is extremely common in this industry. People jump around all the time, because it’s such a small industry with a limited pool of talent you’re almost always guaranteed a promo or pay rise by jumping around.

The thing that is weird here is that he appears to have departed without having a new role elsewhere, so perhaps his departure wasn’t his own choice.

[isarai]

No it's not "extremely common" to have the game director leave mid project, nor is it a "small industry with a limited pool of talent". Gaming is literally the 2nd biggest entertainment industry on the planet.

[Orchard]

Except it is. Turnover in this industry is high due to crunch/work conditions, dev cycles being long and the fact that everyone always has open positions, so that’s how you get more money / level up easily.

More common for lower level staff than directors sure, but still common. I’ve seen it happen many times.

It might be the 2nd biggest entertainment industry but the number of skilled workers in the industry is relatively small, you always end up working with people you already worked with before when moving companies.

But like I said, this one is weird because people normally have their next gig lined up before leaving their current.

[tombfan]

Haven't seen a lot of games changing director mid game and the ones that does usually means that are not going well.

[Godmars290]

"Extremely common" seemingly to MS projects.

[SurgicalMenace]

That's more like it. Doesn't seem like old MS can catch a break. Almost like they don't know 2hat they're doing.

[Aarontk]

Except you’re seeing what you want to see, confirmational bias.
Sony San Diego lost its creative director and we don’t even know what project they were working on.
The Days Gone director left and spoke about their frustration with Sony.
The director for ps5’s demon souls left.

That’s just three that come to mind. This site gravitates toward news that is potentially Xbox negative. Sometimes new directors on a project are a good thing. Sometimes bad too.

[elazz]

@Aarontk. Except The Days Gone director finished a game that after a rough launch received quite some praise after updates. He left after the game got on shelves. Any other projects he might have been involved in at the time would be early pre production at best. So not a similar situation as this Perfect Dark guy.

[Godmars290]

@Aarontk:
Sony's known for putting out a decent stream of well regarded games. MS doesn't. That they lose people on what unreleased projects they do have planned just makes it worse.

[darthv72]

@god, just so everyone is clear... you're saying when people leave Sony studios it's okay because Sony pumps out more games on a regular basis.

Got it. Thanks

[Godmars290]

@darthv72:

I said, in regards to volume and quality, Sony is better regarded than MS. That if they lose people mid project, something I doubt there are examples of, its not as big of a deal.

[DarXyde]

Hm, maybe. I kinda feel like there's a pattern. If I recall the project timeline (and correct me if I make any mistakes, I'm going off memory)...

First, we heard of something being worked on at The Initiative.

Then, Perfect Dark is announced, followed by Drew Murray leaving The Initiative.

Crystal Dynamics is onboarded, and we're now learning about the second big departure.

I don't think there are any issues with the game materializing, but my take is that there are some serious constraints that people don't like. Based on the aforementioned timeline, I kind of think there were disagreements about what would be the maiden game for the studio. Given Murray's roots at a creative studio like Insomniac, I suspect he wanted a new IP and that got ripped from his hands. He left on good terms, but who really knows?

I also suspect that Microsoft mentioning that they are "partnering with" Crystal Dynamics really means "they're the veterans, guys. Listen to them." And some infighting has ensued. It seems not improbable given this Neuburger lad previously worked for CD and may have left BECAUSE of their leadership style. If so, I think it means control of the project was wrestled from The Initiative, perhaps with Spencer's approval.

I don't really know, honestly. Is it strange for a "AAAA studio" to lose talent? I mean... People change jobs often enough in the gaming industry, but we're also talking about a studio that's effectively touted as being visionary and next-level. It feels off to have key personnel losses for what felt like a careful curation of talent.

I've long thought it might be problematic to have too many chefs in the kitchen, and there's no certainty that I'm right. I'm just saying that it does seem odd.

[Crows90]

Usually lower level employees change jobs often. Not directors.

[Rimeskeem]

The only other director I know leaving a game mid development in the last 5 years was Jeff Kaplan and that was a HUGE deal.

[Crows90]

Say what you want but I don't know if any game that's switched directors and ended up being any good. Usually directors will stay when they like a project.

[Profchaos]

No not common at all being a small talent pool of you can't stick out and deliver a project everyone knows about it.

When this happens it's a bad sign

[Shadowsteal]

Managing 40 studios is easier said than done. Especially when Microsoft had such a difficult time managing 5 not so long ago.

[esherwood]

That’s what I was thinking. These companies are valued high now but who knows what they’ll be after a couple bad games. Xbox got a lot of pressure to make sure they don’t lose all that money

[VersusDMC]

They end up making xbox avatars like Rare?

But don't really think developers have to worry about being closed as the gamepass quality standard isn't that high and sales numbers don't matter as much. Just pump the games out.

[derek]

Microsoft will continue to mismanage their gaming division because there is no pressure on them to improve, it just not that important to the company as a whole. Maybe that will change with the company spending 80 billion to buy up game publishers/studios which isn't an insignificant amount of money even to a company the size of Microsoft.

[jznrpg]

It was supposed to be AAAA and now it doesn’t have a director . Overhyping a studio and especially a game before it even in production is a really bad idea . But that’s what MS does . I was at Target today and saw an Xbox display today . It says fastest most powerful console , but it’s definitely not the fastest and theoretical power is nice and all but it’s losing in fps for most games . That doesn’t make it a bad machine but if anyone is informed it will make them think twice before buying it because they aren’t marketing games and they aren’t marketing the truth . PS5 went for speed Xbox went for raw power so it can’t be both but they claim they win in everything which is sad really . It’s the reason why Xbox is so off putting to me , BS makes it stink.
And their fans pump out the same stuff like , game directors leaving before a game is released is common and normal but it isn’t unless the game is having a rough production .

[esherwood]

Who gives a crap what the fans do lol. Your not buying into a culture or something. Something tells me your one of those people

[Godmars290]

Except that's exactly what Game Pass is suppose to be: Gaming culture you just *happen* to pay for.

[VersusDMC]

Everyone is going to defend everything happening to this game behind the scenes and when it comes out Mediocre they will throw out the gamepass defence...

[Michiel1989]

and when it comes out good you will throw out the gamepass defense as well.

[alb1899]

If the game turn to be Bad it will be a shame, and a lost of money for MS.....just that. You guys try to make from everything a world end scenario.

[MadLad]

There's people who WANT it to come out mediocre.
Just like there were people who WANTED Infinite to come out mediocre.

[Crows90]

@michiel
There's no game pass defence if it comes out good. And that point it's a matter of success in sales.

@tedcruz
Nobody wants games to be bad. They simply are and infinite is nothing special. The campaign is mediocre at best. Sure you can play around in that open world but that's not really part of the story or main missions which is completely mediocre and in some cases just bad.

The multiplayer is the best part but the live service crap is the big problem.

[Michiel1989]

@crows there is, dont you see what being said 24/7 on here? when there is only something remotely good being said about ms the sony camp says: GP bad for the industry with nothing else to back it up besides them seeming happy Sony is charging more money for their games in the biggest entertainment industry on the globe. Its not that they are starved for cash or cant invest enough in their new games, its because they can.

[HardKnockKid24]

I think if you look up all the multi platform games that have launched thus far you’ll see that while “most” is probably accurate, it’s not by the margin you think. And dude, if Xbox is “off-putting” for you just don’t buy it. You clicked in to comment on a game that is Xbox exclusive. Clearly there’s SOME interest there.

[SurgicalMenace]

I've got a SX but with all the "most powerful" talk, what example is there to prove it? GP, BC, Quick Resume, etc don't show power at all. Who brags about power then pats themselves on the back for having the largest legacy collection available on any console. You damn well better be able to play games from older consoles well. All I'm asking for is a reason to use my SX outside of BC, GP, Quick Resume, or any other gimmick besides playing next generation experiences. I purchased your system, MS, now deliver anything to show its worth it.

[Hofstaderman]

But Infinite is mediocre....

[MadLad]

Most fun I've had with an FPS campaign in a long time. Sitting at an 87 on Metacritic. Long time fans more or less unanimously feel it's the best form the multiplayer has been since 3.

If that's your standard for mediocrity, your standards must be disgustingly high.

The game's issues is lack of multiplayer content had right now, and a terrible UI for the multiplayer.

[Ausbo]

The reason they can get away with the “fastest console is because they are talking about RAM. The PS5 has the faster hard drive for sure, but Microsoft has the higher RAM speeds.

Is it false? No.
Is it a little misleading? Yeah sure. Especially since the customer will notice the hard drive speeds over everything.

[slowgamer]

If you can't take the heat, don't climb inside the oven.

[Eonjay]

As a developer myself, the idea of working in an oven is undesirable. Putting your employees inside of a pressure cooker is not best practice lol.

[PitbullMonster]

Imagine Cory Barlog left during the development of God of war or Neil Druckmann during the development of The last of us or Kojima during the development of Death Stranding.
This is nothing to downplay and not that common.

[BrainSyphoned]

Doubt Kojima is going to leave Kojima Productions

[Godmars290]

Was saw what happened to Metal Gear 5 when Kojima left that. What became of the franchise afterwards.

[Thegr81]

Those are studio heads. The studio head Darrell ghalager is still there. Also naughty dog did lose its original director for the last of us 2. Amy Hennig was the director and she quit do to a disagreement of the direction of the game.

[elazz]

Amy Henning was in pre production for Uncharted 4 while Neil and Bruce were working on The Last of Us. She wasn't the director of the last of us. And I'm not even sure if she was the director for uncharted 4 since they were still pitching and writing.

[Hofstaderman]

This game's development has a ton of warning bells going off

[moriarty1889]

What is going on with this game? Not good at all.

[MIDGETonSTILTS17]

I guess competing with SIE isn’t as easy as throwing $80 billion at the problem 12 years late.

[talocaca]

Is anyone actually surprised?

[derek]

Microsoft xbox division is a terribly run organization, which i believe has crippled their ability to produce great games and get them to market. There seems to be a belief that if they just throw enough money at the division it will be a success.

[AnotherGamer]

How come this problem is more common among MS studios?

[Ninver]

Shitty company to work for?

[King_Noctis]

Shitty how?

[King_Noctis]

It is common in the entire industry, not just in MS studio.

I guess you see just what you want to see.

[sourOG]

I didn’t like that idea to begin with. I never played those games so I don’t have the same connection as some. A brand new studio, biggest budget in history, talent from all over… and you make a f***ing perfect dark sequel? This was destined for failure, those people should have been unleashed.

[rlow1]

People are going to read into things they want to read into. He could of left for a variety of reasons and unless he comes out and spells it out. Everyone else is just pure speculating.

[Ninver]

Until specified it's only human nature to assume the worst. This is not good news for the game

[MegaLogic]

It's strange to me that we are condemning games before they are even revealed? Who does that? Fanboy gaming is the pits

[Destiny1080]

i doubt anybody was expecting much, but this pretty much extinguishes all hope

[mastershredder]

Dan left. Big whoop. If it were Martin Hollis that would be something.

Meanwhile, a bunch of gamers get into a pissing match about who knows more about industry trends (while clearly not of that industry and pulling whatever out their ass, or making really, really dumb assumptions). kewl.

[Snakeeater25]

Perfect dark will never see the light of day

[iplay1up2]

Not saying a word. I don't want to live "attack of the fanboys" if he had SWITCHED STODIOS DIFFERENT STORY!

[XboxSwitchPS5Gamer]

Look like new Perfect Dark game is in trouble developing just like Halo Infinite, Crackdown 3 etc... given history of Xbox exclusives often problems.

[neomahi]

Because nobody wants to work for Microsoft (Game Studios). Duh.

[agnosticgamer]

Still have to see how the game is in the end. At the end of the day that's all that matters, but from the outside looking in it appears this studio is either A) being terribly mismanaged or B) an incubation studio and isn't what people thought it was and Microsoft sold it as. Maybe complete the conceptual phase and outsource the rest of the project to larger companies to finish with assistance from the Initiative and Microsoft funding.

They have a lot of talent from around the industry but only have around 75 or so personnel last I knew. Really confused why they don't get beefed up so they can manage their games from concept to final product. I like Darrell Gallagher, that's why I am surprised he hasn't got proper manning at his studio... Unless this is it and he is happy with the role the company plays.

[sourOG]

The incubation thing makes the most sense imo but it’s still weird. Like a starter studio that is supposed to fail and restart as a smaller team. Get the ball rolling on the next game, etc. it makes sense. But then why assign them a specific game? Why buy great studios if they’re just going to finish some top down assembly line. Buy activision don’t be activision lol.

So far they have created a concept and brought in a third party studio after spending 10s of billions on studios. Is it mismanagement? It can’t be, there has to be a reason we don’t know lol. It seems like wild haymaker swings with money bags. They hope one of them will connect and change things.

Regardless, I’m glad they are using third party to build the initiatives concepts. It’s a good sign. We want obsidian to make obsidian games, not the games from brain trust at MS4A.

I think It’s basically try outs to get bought lmao. That might be too clever though. An entire studio dedicated to outreach? “Here platinum games, finish this and we’ll talk”.