Crystal Dynamics Cuts Staff After Perfect Dark Axed

Crystal Dynamics has let go an unspecified number of employees following Microsoft's decision to cancel the Perfect Dark project.

In a LinkedIn statement, Crystal Dynamics acknowledged the workforce reductions without providing a specific figure for those affected.

"Today, we made the extremely tough choice to say goodbye to a group of our skilled teammates due to changing business circumstances," the statement explains. "This was not an easy call. It was, however, essential to safeguard the studio's long-term viability and our core creative goals within an ever-evolving market landscape."

The studio also confirmed that the ongoing development of Tomb Raider remains unaffected by these changes.

Although the official statement does not directly cite Perfect Dark as the cause for the layoffs, several former employees have shared social media posts and maintain profiles indicating their work on that specific title. These job cuts appear to be a delayed consequence of Xbox's cancellation of Perfect Dark earlier this year, a project Crystal Dynamics was co-developing with The Initiative. The Initiative itself was closed down at the time of the cancellation in July.

Crystal Dynamics was initially enlisted to reinvigorate the Perfect Dark development after progress stalled with the former co-developer, Certain Affinity. The studio was later acquired by the Embracer Group in 2022, which disclosed that Crystal Dynamics had 273 staff across its Austin, Bellevue, and San Mateo locations at that time. The studio previously laid off ten employees in 2023 and an additional 17 earlier this year. The current total number of remaining staff is unknown.