Update []: In response to this, a former Perfect Dark developer has revealed how the trailer did have "some fake stuff in it", but it was also created via an in-engine demo which required someone to actually play through the sequence. We've highlighted this in more detail elsewhere on Pure Xbox:

Original Story: The most surprising news to come out of yesterday's Xbox layoffs was that Perfect Dark was being cancelled and The Initiative (the studio developing it) was being shut down. After all, we finally got a proper look at the title during last year's Xbox Games Showcase, and as mentioned at the time, we thought it looked really awesome.

Of course, trailers like these don't always tell the full story, and one reporter over at Kotaku has claimed it wasn't "indicative" of the overall level of progress on the game. A source of theirs even suggested it was "basically fake".

Now, as a lot of people are mentioning on social media, it did seem at the time like this wasn't entirely representative of what to expect. It's pretty much suggested at the start of the trailer - there's a disclaimer that it's a mix of "in-game footage and cinematics" - and we've seen plenty of "non-indicative" trailers over the years throughout the industry.

The trailer also describes itself as a "gameplay reveal" and a "first look at gameplay" though, so who knows just how close it was to the final thing (or at least, the final thing before it got cancelled). The "basically fake" thing sounds a bit strong to us. but perhaps they're right on the money!

Hopefully more details will be revealed about this over the coming days, weeks and months, but at least as things stand right now, Perfect Dark seems to be completely finished over at Xbox. What a massive shame for everyone involved.

What are your thoughts on this? Let us know down in the comments section below.