Crystal Dynamics Cuts Staff After Perfect Dark Axed

Crystal Dynamics has downsized its workforce following Microsoft's cancellation of the Perfect Dark project.

In a LinkedIn statement, Crystal Dynamics confirmed the layoffs without specifying the number of affected employees.

"Today we made the very difficult decision to part ways with a number of our talented colleagues due to evolving business conditions," the statement said. "This was not an easy decision, but it was necessary to maintain our studio's long-term stability and focus on core creative priorities in a rapidly changing market."

The company confirmed that the ongoing development of Tomb Raider remains unaffected by these changes.

Though the statement doesn't directly attribute the layoffs to Perfect Dark's cancellation, multiple former employees' social media posts and profiles indicate they were working on that specific project. These job cuts appear to be a delayed response to Xbox canceling Perfect Dark earlier this year, a project Crystal Dynamics was developing in collaboration with The Initiative. The Initiative was closed when the project was terminated back in July.

Crystal Dynamics originally joined the project to revitalize Perfect Dark after development struggles with previous co-developer Certain Affinity. The studio was later acquired by Embracer Group in 2022, when it reportedly employed 273 people across its Austin, Bellevue, and San Mateo offices. Following previous layoffs of 10 employees in 2023 and 17 more earlier this year, it remains unclear how many staff members currently remain at the company.