A two-minute video featuring gameplay from The Initiative's cancelled Perfect Dark reboot is popping up all over social media today.

Originally reported by Mp1st, the footage features several short snippets of gameplay from various stages of Perfect Dark's development. If you watch the video below, you can catch a glimpse of several fleshed-out levels, some early grey-box gunplay testing, abilities, and even a few pieces of destructible fruit.

It hurts to watch, honestly, because this is possibly the closest we'll ever get to seeing the game in action. We did get a 'gameplay' reveal during the Xbox Games Showcase in 2024, but just a few months later, Xbox announced its plans to cease funding and development of Perfect Dark. This resulted in its main developer, The Initiative, also shuttering its doors for good. They weren't the only ones to suffer the chop that day, as ZeniMax Online Studios' unannounced MMORPG was also cancelled.

The return of Rare's iconic Joanna Dark was first announced all the way back in 2020 at The Game Awards, and the game was pitched as an episodic, Westworld-inspired reimagining of the Perfect Dark franchise. The game was rumoured to be in development hell, however, Joanna Dark's voice actor Alix Wilton Regan mentioned feeling "absolutely blindsided" by the decision to cancel the project, as she'd recorded "entire chapters of this universe".

Whilst the game still remains very cancelled, Xbox has been moving bits and pieces around of late. So, who knows? Maybe Perfect Dark could see the light again.

What do you think of the footage? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.