Who’s working on the new Perfect Dark? VGC investigates the veterans behind Xbox's reboot.

Theorry · Dec 12, 2020

In charge of the project are game director Daniel Neuburger, who was a game director on the Tomb Raider series, and design director Drew Murray, who was the lead designer of Insomniac's Sunset Overdrive.

The Initiative has also hired a group of God of War designers for Perfect Dark. Chris O'Neill is Perfect Dark's lead level designer, and The Initiative's director production, Brian Westergaard, also worked on God of War as senior managing producer.

Sean Slayback, who was most recently principal weapons designer at Respawn, is Perfect Dark's lead systems designer. Slayback worked on Titanfall 1 & 2,plus various Call of Duty titles including Modern Warfare 2, and designed and implemented most weapons in Apex Legends
.

Christine Thompson, who wrote the campaigns for Destiny 2 and Destiny: Rise of Iron, as well as various expansions, is Perfect Dark's narrative lead.

Christian Cantamessa, the lead designer of Rockstar's Red Dead Redemption, is Perfect Dark's cinematics director. Cantamessa previously co-wrote and directed all of the cinematic sequences for Monolith's Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor.

In art, Perfect Dark's lead is Jason Priest, the former art director for 2011's Homefront and lead environment artist for Insomniac's Spider-Man
. Ironically, Priest also worked on 2004's GoldenEye: Rogue Agent, a spiritual successor to the classic FPS which Perfect Dark followed.

Eric Persson, previously the lead concept artist for Dice's Battlefield series, is Perfect Dark's associate art director.

Lee Davis, a ten-year veteran of Sony studio Naughty Dog, is Perfect Dark's lead animator. Davis most recently was in charge of melee animation in
The Last of Us Part 2
.

Tyler Thornock, the lead technical director for Uncharted 4: A Thief's End, is Perfect Dark's principal technical animator.

The Initiative currently has six open positions, including for a game design manager and lead VFX artist.

It's not yet clear if any of the original Perfect Dark team members will be involved in the new game. However, original developer Rare is likely to provide a small amount of production support for the project and Kenn Lobb, who produced the game at Nintendo, is now creative director of Xbox Game Studios.

Full list as known.

Darrell Gallagher, studio head (Activision, Square Enix)
Annie Lohr, recruiter (Respawn, Treyarch)
Daniel Neuburger, game director (Tomb Raider series)
Drew Murray, lead designer (Sunset Overdrive)
Christian Cantamessa, cinematics director (Red Dead Redemption)
Brian Westergaard, director of production (God of War, Tomb Raider series)
Blake Fischer, director of narrative (Xbox)
Christine Thompson, narrative lead (Destiny 2)
Maxwell Morrison, QA lead
Chris O'Neill, lead level designer (God of War + Metal Gear Online)
Robert Ryan, senior systems designer (Motive + Naughty Dog)
Justin Perez, senior systems designer (Jedi: Fallen Order)
Kurt Loudy, senior systems designer (Id Software)
Ian Miller, senior designer (God of War)
Kai Zheng, principal level designer (God of War)
Ray Yeomans, senior designer (God of War & Tomb Raider series)
Jolyon Myers, principal world builder (Infinity Ward)
Nigel Loster, gameplay designer (The Coalition)
Daniel Steamer, lead technical designer (Crystal Dynamics)
Cristian Guzman, associate technical designer
Joey Tan, associate technical designer (Insomniac)
Tom Sherpherd, technical director (GTA V, Red Dead Redemption 2)
William Archbell, technical director (Riot Games, 343)
Christopher Ng, technical designer (Survios)
Cristian Guzman, associate technical director
Ben Diamond, lead systems engineer (Respawn, God of War III)
Cesar Castro, senior software engineer (EA Sports UFC, FIFA)
Hawar Doghramachi, senior graphics engineer (Naughty Dog)
Robert Marr, lead gameplay engineer (Cryptic Studios)
Anthony Silva, senior engineer
Yuka Murata, software engineer
Stephen Clayburn, principal lead online services engineer
Johal Gow, senior producer (Treyarch)
Victoria Miller, producer (PlayStation)
Irma Ward, associate producer
Jonathan Chavez, associate producer (Treyarch)
Ryan Duffin, gameplay animation director (BioWare, DICE)
Lee Davis, lead gameplay animator (Naughty Dog)
Jason Priest, lead artist (Insomniac)
Eric Persson, associate art director
Ryan Trowbridge, tech art director (Bend Studio)
Matt Corcoran, principal character artist (Jurassic World movie)
Sze Jones, principal character artist (Tomb Raider, Uncharted 4)
Tyler Thornock, principal technical animator (Naughty Dog)
Giovanni Martinez, senior environment artist (Insomniac)
Justin Walters, senior environment artist (Avalanche)
Pasquale Scionti, senior environment/lighting artist
Allyson Smyth, environment artist (DICE)
Sarah Swenson, environment artist (Naughty Dog)
Jaime Molina, environment artist (Infinity Ward)
Patrick Ward, 3D environment artist (Nexon)
Fabian Elmers, senior tech artist
Richard Burns, UI/UX lead (Forza Horizon series)
Branford Williams, principal production designer (Daybreak)
Oliver Guiney, concept artist (Black Ops 4)
Isaac Yeram Kim, concept artist (Naughty Dog)
Victor Chavez, senior animator (Amazon Game Studios)
Arlington Cruz, animator
Sylvia Chambers, animator (Naughty Dog)
Lindsey McQueeney, HR manager (Google, Crystal Dynamics)

Analysis: Who's working on the new Perfect Dark? | VGC (videogameschronicle.com)

The Respawn dev for weapons sounds for me the best imo

Butch · Dec 12, 2020

They have an amazing team, looking forward to what they come up with :)

Confused Cheeseburger · Dec 12, 2020

Honestly, this has overtaken Fable as my most anticipated xbox game. The things you could do with Perfect Dark now, with all that talent, whew.

Deleted member 34949 · Dec 12, 2020

Man, that's a pretty stacked team. Can't wait to see more.

FelipeMGM · Dec 12, 2020

Given the experience of its staff on series like Tomb Raider, God of War and Uncharted, it's likely that Perfect Dark could be a third-person action game.

Isnt the game first-person though?

Yan · Dec 12, 2020

This sounds like a dream team.
Still no guarantee for succes but it sure is promising.

Theorry · Dec 12, 2020

FelipeMGM said:
Isnt the game first-person though?

Where do you see that quote?

Voodoopeople · Dec 12, 2020

Seems strange to pick up someone from naughty dog, who whatever people think about TLOU2, create beautifully animated protagonists and lovely melee animations, for a game where you'll never really see the protagonist outside of cut scenes and won't have much need of top tier animations in game.

ginge · Dec 12, 2020

Voodoopeople said:
Seems strange to pick up someone from naughty dog, who whatever people think about TLOU2, create beautifully animated protagonists and lovely melee animations, for a game where you'll never really see the protagonist outside of cut scenes and won't have much need of top tier animations in game.

They have said that they want to do some innovative things with the camera, so I think it might be a kind of hybrid between first and third person, maybe it changes depending on the situation?

They said that they were inspired by things like gopro footage, stuff like that

Im getting mirrors edge crossed with hitman vibes and Im really interested

dedge · Dec 12, 2020

Theorry said:
Where do you see that quote?

Perfect Dark | Xbox

A secret agent thriller set in a near-future world.

www.xbox.com

Under genre

Theorry · Dec 12, 2020

dedge said:
Perfect Dark | Xbox

A secret agent thriller set in a near-future world.

www.xbox.com

Under genre

No the quote about the third person. As i dont see it in the article.

Uzupedro · Dec 12, 2020

Theorry said:
Where do you see that quote?

4th paragraph in the article.

Yuntu · Dec 12, 2020

ginge said:
They have said that they want to do some innovative things with the camera, so I think it might be a kind of hybrid between first and third person, maybe it changes depending on the situation?

They said that they were inspired by things like gopro footage, stuff like that

Im getting mirrors edge crossed with hitman vibes and Im really interested

That sounds soooo good. I hope it pans out properly.

Martinski · Dec 12, 2020

Well that's some talent for sure, hope it shines through in the final product.

Theorry · Dec 12, 2020

Uzupedro said:
4th paragraph in the article.

I dont see it. Are people reading the correct article? I even control f the stuff.

Bundy · Dec 12, 2020

FelipeMGM said:
Isnt the game first-person though?

It is.

christocolus · Dec 12, 2020

That's some really good talent.

Uzupedro · Dec 12, 2020

Theorry said:
I dont see it. Are people reading the correct article? I even control f the stuff.

Yeah it's the one you linked, here a screenshot:

Bundy · Dec 12, 2020

Theorry said:
I dont see it. Are people reading the correct article? I even control f the stuff.

Xbox studio hires group of God of War designers | VGC

First-party startup The Initiative continues expansion…

www.videogameschronicle.com

panda-zebra · Dec 12, 2020

Uzupedro said:
Yeah it's the one you linked, here a screenshot:

Edited to read:
Given the extensive experience its staff has on series like Tomb Raider, God of War and Uncharted, it's likely that Perfect Dark will feature third-person elements, though its Xbox game page lists it as a first-person shooter.

Deleted member 54073 · Dec 12, 2020

That's some talented staff, under quite a bit of pressure to produce a hit now imo.

ghostcrew · Dec 12, 2020

Theorry said:
I dont see it. Are people reading the correct article? I even control f the stuff.

Looks like it might've had an edit at some point.

Given the extensive experience its staff has on series like Tomb Raider, God of War and Uncharted, it's likely that Perfect Dark will feature third-person elements, though its Xbox game page lists it as a first-person shooter.

Bradbatross · Dec 12, 2020

"Given the extensive experience its staff has on series like Tomb Raider, God of War and Uncharted, it's likely that Perfect Dark will feature third-person elements, though its Xbox game page lists it as a first-person shooter."

Looks like they edited it.

Rychu · Dec 12, 2020

Theorry said:
Where do you see that quote?

If you watched The Game Awards, they described their project as "It's a first person game, but it's not just about shooting people." you can finally find a stream archive of it.

EDIT: I thought you were confused about it being first person. I see that the person was talking about third person now. Ignore.

Theorry · Dec 12, 2020

Uzupedro said:
Yeah it's the one you linked, here a screenshot:

Weird. i have a different version haha. Maybe a cache thing

Theorry · Dec 12, 2020

Rychu said:
If you watched The Game Awards, they described their project as "It's a first person game, but it's not just about shooting people." you can finally find a stream archive of it.

EDIT: I thought you were confused about it being first person. I see that the person was talking about third person now. Ignore.

edit. I see your edit now.

Ales34 · Dec 12, 2020

This is obviously a very talented team. I'm curious what they will do with the IP. Could be very interesting.

Theorry · Dec 12, 2020

This one is great also

Tom Sherpherd, technical director (GTA V, Red Dead Redemption 2)

FarSight XR-20 · Dec 12, 2020

I'm very curious to see how will be the composer(s). I love the instrumental remix of the music in the trailer. I don't know who made this but it sounds like a mix of PD, PDZ and Blade Runner 2049.

It also seems that Ken Lobb is connected to the project in some ways. He worked on Goldeneye, PD and supervised the Killer Instinct reboot so that's very good news.

dedge · Dec 12, 2020

That article quote just seems like speculation more than anything substantial, at least to me.

Audere Est Facere · Dec 12, 2020

Voodoopeople said:
Seems strange to pick up someone from naughty dog, who whatever people think about TLOU2, create beautifully animated protagonists and lovely melee animations, for a game where you'll never really see the protagonist outside of cut scenes and won't have much need of top tier animations in game.

The AI still need to be animated

Hasi · Dec 12, 2020

A lot of talent, but seems like there's a distinct lack of people who have worked on immersive sim or at least systems-driven games, which the material around the game hinted at. I don't know if level design on God of War assures me they can make interesting non-linear spaces, but at the same time these people are all experienced and talented so no reason they couldn't adapt if that's where they want to go.

MirageDwarf · Dec 12, 2020

Personally I'd prefer epic Uncharted/God of war style brand new third person adventure game. Given how background of all those devs is used to hype up the game, new franchise wouldn't have that much marketing cost. It would be very hyped already. Would have total freedom in creativity. MS should have given this reboot to other studio.

Unpopular take: going forward FPS should be used only in VR games. We have tech to create huge world. I feel like that sense is completely lost in FPS when you vision is very limited in comparison. There is a reason even FPS is always revealed in third person. Nobody uses FPS to showcase grand scale of the world.

alphacat · Dec 12, 2020

Sounds like a talented team is behind this

ManNR · Dec 12, 2020

I am honestly very impressed by this team. We are justified in expecting something special with this game.

Yerffej · Dec 12, 2020

First person? Fuck. I was hoping for something closer to SC since Ubisoft won't give it to us.

Karateka · Dec 12, 2020

Narrative lead from destiny sounds meh but I guess it was the expansion and 2... Was the writing good in these?

Pryme · Dec 12, 2020

MirageDwarf said:
It would be very hyped already. Would have total freem in creativity. Instead they choose to work on existing franchise. MS should have given this reboot to other studio.

It's a reboot. There's no strings on them, aside from the lead character being female and a focus on cutting edge spy tech

MirageDwarf said:
Unpopular take: going forward FPS should be used only in VR games. We have tech to create huge world. I feel like that sense is completely lost in FPS when you vision is very limited in comparison. There is a reason even FPS is always revealed in third person. Nobody uses FPS to showcase grand scale of the world.

Cyberpunk is first person and has no issues showcasing the grand scale of the world.

Caiusto · Dec 12, 2020

MirageDwarf said:
MS should have given this reboot to other studio.

It was the studio's choice tho, it's something they wanted to do.

space_nut · Dec 12, 2020

Talk about a all star team!

pswii60 · Dec 12, 2020

MirageDwarf said:
Personally I'd prefer epic Uncharted/God of war style brand new third person adventure game. Given how background of all those devs is used to hype up the game, new franchise wouldn't have that much marketing cost. It would be very hyped already. Would have total freedom in creativity. MS should have given this reboot to other studio.

Unpopular take: going forward FPS should be used only in VR games. We have tech to create huge world. I feel like that sense is completely lost in FPS when you vision is very limited in comparison. There is a reason even FPS is always revealed in third person. Nobody uses FPS to showcase grand scale of the world.

Are you really trying to trigger me and ruin my weekend? This post is so wrong on so many levels.

Why are you being so derogatory to FPS games? As if they're somehow inferior?

Some of the most immersive and realised worlds are in FPS games.

Honestly I don't even know where to begin but I just wanted to let you know you've made me irrationally angry.

VeePs · Dec 12, 2020

MirageDwarf said:
Would have total freedom in creativity.

How is it total creative freedom if your forced into a specific genre?

MirageDwarf said:
There is a reason even FPS is always revealed in third person. Nobody uses FPS to showcase grand scale of the world.

I thought Deus Ex did a good job of this. I haven't played Cyberpunk, but maybe that's another example. It seems like if this is the case maybe Initiative has a better chance to do something new instead of replicating Uncharted or whatever else.

Deleted member 21709 · Dec 12, 2020

That's quite the A team.

RedSparrows · Dec 12, 2020

MirageDwarf said:
Personally I'd prefer epic Uncharted/God of war style brand new third person adventure game. Given how background of all those devs is used to hype up the game, new franchise wouldn't have that much marketing cost. It would be very hyped already. Would have total freedom in creativity. MS should have given this reboot to other studio.

Unpopular take: going forward FPS should be used only in VR games. We have tech to create huge world. I feel like that sense is completely lost in FPS when you vision is very limited in comparison. There is a reason even FPS is always revealed in third person. Nobody uses FPS to showcase grand scale of the world.

The name Perfect Dark means a helluva lot more to people than the names of people who've worked on big previous games, outside people like Kojima.

Nephtes · Dec 12, 2020

Voodoopeople said:
Seems strange to pick up someone from naughty dog, who whatever people think about TLOU2, create beautifully animated protagonists and lovely melee animations, for a game where you'll never really see the protagonist outside of cut scenes and won't have much need of top tier animations in game.

Didn't Perfect Dark Zero have some third person elements when going into cover?

Karateka said:
Narrative lead from destiny sounds meh but I guess it was the expansion and 2... Was the writing good in these?

Rise of Iron was okay... I guess?
I really liked Destiny 2's main campaign except for maybe the end. It kind of fizzles at the end.

But the beginning of the OG Destiny 2 campaign was awesome. It actually made me feel emotions. I didn't think I even had those.

MirageDwarf · Dec 12, 2020

Pryme said:
It's a reboot. There's no strings on them, aside from the lead character being female and a focus on cutting edge spy tech

VeePs said:
How is it total creative freedom if your forced into a specific genre?

That is good. What I meant is even if this is a complete reboot, it will be tied to old franchise.

Caiusto said:
It was the studio's choice tho, it's something they wanted to do.

Okay, I assumed new people joining studio may be more inclined to carve out something totally new in their names. If it is their choice then good on MS to give them all resources to execute their vision. Looking forward to play it.

pswii60 said:
Are you really trying to trigger me and ruin my weekend? This post is so wrong on so many levels.

Why are you being so derogatory to FPS games? As if they're somehow inferior?

Some of the most immersive and realised worlds are in FPS games.

Honestly I don't even know where to begin but I just wanted to let you know you've made me irrationally angry.

Not at all. I have always played FPS. Half-life/Halo pushed FPS genre much more and are amazing games. I wouldn't miss well made FPS game.

Over the time my preference changed and now I enjoy third person more than first person. That's why I lead that post with "Personally...". I wasn't clear but unpopular take was also personal preference.

ShapeDePapa · Dec 12, 2020

Voodoopeople said:
Seems strange to pick up someone from naughty dog, who whatever people think about TLOU2, create beautifully animated protagonists and lovely melee animations, for a game where you'll never really see the protagonist outside of cut scenes and won't have much need of top tier animations in game.

Look at the animations quality between MW2019 and Black Ops Cold War to see that first person animations can make a huge difference.

Bruceleeroy · Dec 12, 2020

In charge of the project are game director Daniel Neuburger, who was a game director on the Tomb Raider series

For a game that has hired such incredible talent in animation, cinematics and systems in not sure the game director of Tomb Raider is your best move.

javiergame4 · Dec 12, 2020

Oh wow interesting team but kinda concerned about the Narrative lead who wrote Destiny 2 campaign.

never payed attention to the story of Destiny 2, is it even good ?

Glimpse_Dog · Dec 12, 2020

Only thing that worries me is narrative coming from destiny guy. Destiny story is nonsense/garbage.

Who’s working on the new Perfect Dark? VGC investigates the veterans behind Xbox's reboot.

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