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A couple of hours ago, Initiative Studio Head Darrell Gallagher announced on LinkedIn that he’s leaving Xbox. He expressed his pride in the work done by the development team on the Perfect Dark remake, despite its final cancellation by Microsoft.
After an incredible journey, my time at Xbox has come to a close with the wind-down of Perfect Dark and The Initiative. I couldn’t be prouder of the talented and passionate team I had the privilege of assembling and leading. Together, we set out to reimagine an iconic franchise and poured creativity, craft, and dedication into every step of the way. The public reception and excitement for what we were building has been inspiring and deeply appreciated by all of us.
While this chapter is ending sooner than hoped, the spirit, talent, and achievements of the team will live on well beyond the project. I’m grateful to Xbox for the opportunity, to our partners for their support, and to the community for their belief in what we were creating. I leave with nothing but pride in what we accomplished together and excitement for what’s next — both for myself and for the amazing developers I was fortunate enough to work with.
The Perfect Dark project was officially canceled over two months ago, but Gallagher is only formally announcing his departure from The Initiative now because a last-ditch attempt to save the project by selling the game rights to Take-Two Interactive failed. Jason Schreier reported earlier this month that no agreement was ever reached between Take-Two and Microsoft, who could not find common ground on who would remain the long-term owner of the storied franchise.
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Gallagher was Studio Head of The Initiative for seven and a half years. Before that, his career includes tenures at Sony, Rockstar, THQ, Crystal Dynamics, and Activision, where he began as Director of Art and was promoted to Studio Head, leading the Tomb Raider reboot trilogy, which is why he was picked to reboot Perfect Dark. Between Crystal Dynamics and The Initiative, he worked for two years at Activision as Senior VP and Head of Development. He is credited for Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare – Remastered, Call of Duty: WWII, Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare, Destiny 2, Skylanders: Imaginators, and Crash Bandicoot: N. Sane Trilogy.
