Crystal Dynamics has let go an unspecified number of employees in the wake of Microsoft's decision to cancel the Perfect Dark project.
The studio confirmed the job cuts in a LinkedIn statement, without detailing the exact scale of the workforce reduction.
"Today, we faced the extremely tough choice to say goodbye to a group of our skilled team members due to changing business circumstances," the statement explains. "We did not arrive at this decision easily. It was a necessary step to secure the studio's long-term sustainability and focus on our primary creative goals within an ever-changing industry landscape."
The company reassured that development on Tomb Raider continues and was not impacted by these layoffs.
Although the statement does not directly cite Perfect Dark, social media posts and profiles from several affected individuals indicate they were assigned to that title. These staff reductions appear to be a delayed consequence of Xbox scrapping Perfect Dark earlier this year, a project Crystal Dynamics was co-developing with The Initiative. The Initiative itself was closed down when the game was canceled in July.
Crystal Dynamics was initially enlisted to reinvigorate the Perfect Dark development after progress stalled with the original co-developer, Certain Affinity. The studio was subsequently acquired by Embracer Group in 2022, at which point it reportedly had 273 staff across offices in Austin, Bellevue, and San Mateo. Crystal Dynamics conducted a layoff of ten employees in 2023, followed by another 17 earlier this year. The current total headcount is unknown.
