Not every video game gets a second chance once its heyday passes. Usually, if a game franchise fades away and stops releasing entries regularly, it’s accepted that its time is over. Not so forPerfect Dark.At The Game Awards 2020, The Initiative finally revealed that it’s working on a new installment in thePerfect Darkfranchise, which hasn’t seen a game released since 2010.Perfect Darkmay be some 20 years old, but at its prime it was critically acclaimed, and it’s far from lacking in fans today. Joanna Dark’s resurgence is something that some fans have been waiting for, and now it’s finally here.
However,Perfect Dark’s reboot has a small problem: nobody knows yet when the game will release. That’s not too big a deal, necessarily, since the game was only announced a month ago. Even so, announcing a game without any form of release window sets a precedent for vagueness that could mean trouble in the long run. It’s a problemPerfect Darkhas in common with another major title under Microsoft’s purview:Avowed.Fans are chomping at the bit to know when Obsidian’s next fantasy RPG drops, butAvowed’s release is a mystery. Both games could be extremely lucrative Xbox Series X exclusives, so when are they coming out?
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Leaving Fans Waiting
Perfect Dark’s lack of specificitymight not be an immediate cause for concern, butAvowedfans have cause to start getting antsy.Avowedwas announced almost six months ago and Obsidian hasn’t had anything more to say about it. Some might object that Obsidian is probably just focused onGrounded,which is still in early access and hasn’t released a final version yet. However,Groundedis supposed to finish early access sometime in 2021, and considering early access has been open since the end of July 2020, it can’t last too much longer. Obsidian will have to say something aboutAvowedbefore too long, or it might join theElden Ringclub.
It’s no secret thatElden Ring’s fans are sad and frustrated that From Software hasn’t revealed anything about the game since it was announced. Now fans have gone so far as writing their ownElden Ringlore and developing their own version of the game. It’s a surprising and drastic course of action, but if it happened once, it could happen again.AvowedandPerfect Darkdon’t want tofollow inElden Ring’s footstepsby developing a reputation for secrecy. Unfortunately,Avowedmay be on the path to having such an extended silence, andPerfect Darkcould do the same if nobody knows when it’ll actually release.
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Choosing the Right Occasion
Admittedly, The Initiative and Obsidian have a second problem in common. The COVID-19 pandemic carries on, and even as vaccines start to roll out, it’s hard to say when exactly conferences and announcements will come out.E3 2021 will reportedly be heldin some form after last year’s E3 was canceled, but does Microsoft want to wait that long? It certainly has the resources to put a digital conference together before E3 2021 in June. That’s not out of the realm of possibility, but it still isn’t easy to assemble these conferences while working around pandemic restrictions.
There’s one thing that might setPerfect Darkapart fromAvowedfor now. A tweet from the game’s design director suggests thatPerfect Darkhas been in a playable statefor several months, which means it could be a lot closer to release thanAvowed.If that’s the case, fans can be optimistic that The Initiative will have more to say on the game over the next few months. It’s definitely a good thing ifPerfect Darkcan break away from the type of lingering silence thatAvowedis slowly sinking into. Hopefully Obsidian has a plan to keepAvowedfrom languishing in obscurity.
