More than two minutes of previously unseen gameplay footage from Microsoft’s canceled Perfect Dark reboot has surfaced online, offering a new look at how the project was shaping up before development ended. The footage was uncovered by MP1st and appears to come from the portfolio of VFX artist Tracey Landau, who worked on the game. It shows combat, traversal, hacking-style interactions and environments that were not part of the public 2024 gameplay reveal.
The video appears to represent work from the game’s in-development build rather than a polished marketing slice. Several sequences show Joanna Dark moving through interior and outdoor environments, using firearms and interacting with the world through traversal mechanics. The footage also includes what appears to be hacking functionality, reinforcing the espionage-focused direction Microsoft and The Initiative had previously described for the reboot.
MP1st says the footage originated from Landau, whose credits include work on franchises such as Tomb Raider, Call of Duty and Marvel’s Avengers. The publication also notes that some of the locations and weapon sequences shown in the clip had not previously been made public. Because the material comes from development work rather than an official trailer, visual quality, animations and mechanics should not be treated as representative of what a finished release would necessarily have looked like.
Perfect Dark was first announced in 2020 as a reboot of Rare’s classic spy shooter series. Microsoft later partnered The Initiative with Crystal Dynamics, and the game received a substantial gameplay reveal during the Xbox Games Showcase in 2024. That demonstration presented a first-person espionage game combining stealth, traversal, hacking and gunplay, with Microsoft describing the project as a “secret agent thriller” set in a near-future world.
The newly surfaced footage broadly aligns with that direction. Joanna can be seen moving quickly through environments, transitioning between traversal and combat while using futuristic tools and conventional firearms. It offers a less curated look at systems that were previously presented only through Microsoft’s official reveal, making the material particularly valuable as an archival record of a game that players will now never receive in its planned form.
Microsoft canceled Perfect Dark in July 2025 and closed The Initiative as part of a wider restructuring of its gaming business. The company also ended its collaboration with Crystal Dynamics on the project. Reports later indicated that Crystal Dynamics and Embracer explored ways to keep Perfect Dark alive with outside financing, including discussions involving Take-Two Interactive, but those efforts ultimately did not produce a deal.
The cancellation means footage like this is now one of the few ways to assess how far development had progressed. MP1st previously uncovered documents and concept material indicating that the team had been working toward a vertical slice, a representative section designed to demonstrate the intended quality and gameplay of a full title. The newly published footage provides a more direct look at that work than static concept images or written design material.
Similar material from canceled games has increasingly surfaced through former developer portfolios and archival discoveries. Ubisoft’s abandoned cooperative shooter Project U, for example, also recently resurfaced through a leaked gameplay image from its canceled development, preserving another glimpse of a project that never reached release. In Perfect Dark’s case, the footage is especially notable because Microsoft had already publicly positioned the reboot as a major first-party Xbox title before canceling it.
The footage also illustrates why Perfect Dark’s cancellation drew significant attention. Its combination of environmental traversal, first-person combat and espionage mechanics appeared more developed than the brief public material had previously established, while the newly surfaced environments suggest the game had moved beyond a purely conceptual stage. That does not mean the project was close to completion, however, and reports around the cancellation consistently indicated that development remained challenging.
Microsoft has not announced any new plans for the Perfect Dark franchise since canceling the reboot. With The Initiative closed and Crystal Dynamics no longer attached, any future revival would need to come from a different development team. For now, the newly surfaced footage stands as one of the most detailed looks yet at the version of Perfect Dark that Microsoft ultimately chose not to release.
