Phil Spencer Suggests Perfect Dark Reboot Helps Xbox Lineup Become Less Male-Oriented

We don't know a lot about the upcoming Perfect Dark reboot for Xbox Series X, but Phil Spencer has now said that the fact that the series features a female protagonist is important for the console. In a recent interview, the head of Xbox told IGN Unlocked that details are thin on the ground for the reboot as of yet, but also said that main character Joanna Dark offers "a lot of modern opportunities" compared to the console's "men-with-guns" lineup.

"I think it's awesome that for us we can focus on a female protagonist in our lineup, we don't have a lot of that in our our first-party," he said. "I think Joanna offers a lot of modern opportunities that I love to see the team focusing on, having a strong protagonist..."

The new Perfect Dark game is being developed by The Initiative, which is a studio created specifically for the purpose of rebooting the series as its first project. The reboot is led by Darrel Gallagher, who formerly worked as the studio head for Crystal Dynamics during its reimagining of Tomb Raider.

It's pretty clear that The Initiative's game will serve as a new starting point for the franchise, but we don't know if it'll serve as some sort of official sequel to the N64 or Xbox 360 entries, or perhaps just reinvent the series entirely. Earlier this year, one of the first employees of The Initiative left the studio after two years to join Insomniac Games. It's also worth noting that while Marcus Fenix's son JD Fenix served as the main character of Gears of War 4, Gears 5 had players control Kait Diaz instead.