Take-Two Hires Former Perfect Dark Leads for Brand New 2K Studio

Following the cancelation of Perfect Dark and the dissolution of its dedicated studio, The Initiative, two of the project’s leads have found a new home at Take-Two Interactive, and more specifically at 2K.

As reported by Jason Schreier on Bluesky, Perfect Dark studio head Darrell Gallagher and director Brian Horton have been hired at 2K to start a brand new studio. No details have yet emerged as to what the new studio will work on, or if any other former Perfect Dark employees joined them.

When asked, a 2K spokesperson provided the following confirmation of the hire:

With a combined six decades of AAA game-making experience across franchises like Tomb Raider, Call of Duty, Destiny, Marvel’s Spider-Man, Hitman, Deus Ex, and more, we’re thrilled to confirm Darrell Gallagher and Brian Horton have joined 2K for their next all-new venture. We don’t have additional details to share at this time, but look forward to sharing updates on their work in the future.

This comes after the cancelation of Perfect Dark by Xbox earlier this year as part of a larger wave of devastating layoffs. The project had previously been a troubled one, with multiple studios being brought into help and a number of internal revisions as studio leads tried to figure out what the game should be.

While The Initiative was closed down upon the game’s cancelation, Crystal Dynamics had also been working on the project. Per Schreier’s reporting and corroborated by IGN’s own sources, leadership from both studio sides of the project spent two months after its cancelation shopping it around to publishers in an effort to save it. Take-Two Interactive allegedly was one of the interested parties, but the deal fell through, and Crystal Dynamics underwent layoffs (it’s second round of three this year).

Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. Got a story tip? Send it to [email protected].