2024 Perfect Dark Demo Mostly Real, Dev Confirms

A developer involved in Microsoft's recently canceled Perfect Dark reboot has responded to allegations that last year's gameplay demo was "misleading," clarifying that the footage represented an in-engine vertical slice of the project.

Perfect Dark was among several projects Microsoft axed this week amid sweeping layoffs across Xbox teams. The title, developed by The Initiative (a studio Microsoft is now closing) alongside Crystal Dynamics, had remained largely unseen since its 2020 announcement before last year's gameplay reveal at the Xbox Games Showcase in June 2024—a video now under scrutiny regarding how closely it reflected actual gameplay systems.

Was the Gameplay Demo "Fake"?

The debate resurfaced after Kotaku's Ethan Gach claimed on social media that last year's demo was "basically fake." Former Perfect Dark developer Adam McDonald, now a senior game designer at Studio MDHR (creators of Cuphead), provided deeper insight.

"It is actually in-engine," McDonald confirmed. "I was one of three level designers who worked on it. It functioned best when played exactly as shown, but still worked if not followed precisely."

He acknowledged some staged elements: "There's some fakery, and the real gameplay systems worked just enough to look polished in the demo. But we were making real design choices to avoid outright misleading players. The parkour is fully functional; the hacking and deception mechanics mostly work."

Regarding combat, he noted: "It's 'real' in the sense that the actions were genuinely performed, but it was scripted for that specific flow. Playing differently would break the intended experience."

Perfect Dark Reboot Gameplay Reveal Screenshots - Xbox Games Showcase 2024

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McDonald emphasized nuance—similar to many vertical slices, the demo showcased a work-in-progress vision. While some systems were functional, others were still being refined to represent the intended final gameplay.

"I'm frustrated by claims that 'the whole thing was fake,'" he said. "It was a typical vertical slice, not deceptive—probably more genuine than people think. We avoided outright falsehoods, though some elements required staging."

Following Perfect Dark's cancellation—alongside Rare's Everwild and an MMO from The Elder Scrolls Online team—most titles featured at June's Xbox showcase remain in development. For a full update on upcoming Xbox projects, we've tracked their current status.