Perfect Dark leads hired for new studio from Borderlands and BioShock publisher 2K, after attempts to save canceled sequel from Xbox failed

A new Perfect Dark game may have been unceremoniously cancelled over the summer, but something is forming from the ashes of that project. Two key devs have been tapped to lead a studio at Grand Theft Auto and Borderlands owner Take-Two, though details are currently limited.

This comes from Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier, who followed up on coverage he’d put together on Perfect Dark's demise. "Earlier this year I broke the news that Take-Two was close to rescuing Xbox's Perfect Dark but the deal fell apart," he posted on BlueSky. "Now, a new development: Take-Two has hired Perfect Dark studio head Darrell Gallagher and director Brian Horton to start a brand new studio within 2K."

Gallagher will serve as studio head and senior vice president, while Horton will be the vice president and head of creative. 2K acknowledged the hires in a statement to IGN. "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," a company spokesperson says.

Earlier this year I broke the news that Take-Two was close to rescuing Xbox’s Perfect Dark but the deal fell apart. Now, a new development: Take-Two has hired Perfect Dark studio head Darrell Gallagher and director Brian Horton to start a brand new studio within 2K.

— @jasonschreier.bsky.social (@jasonschreier.bsky.social.bsky.social) 2025-12-09T14:25:19.831Z

"We don't have additional details to share at this time, but look forward to sharing updates on their work in the future."

The pair comes from The Initiative, an in-house team at Xbox Game Studios whose first release was intended to be the latest Perfect Dark. After being revealed in 2020, company-wide layoffs at Microsoft resulted in The Initiative being dissolved and the game shelved. As specified, there were attempts to shop this iteration of the sci-fi FPS around, but they didn’t yield results, placing Joanna Dark back in limbo.

Given the nature of how the devs came into contact with Take-Two, I'd speculate they've been brought in to make another shooter, but that's just a guess for now. We'll have to wait and see what comes of it - watch this space.

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