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Microsoft And Xbox Roasted For Making ‘Perfect Dark’s’ Joanna Dark “Look Like A Man”

June 10, 2024  ·
  John F. Trent
Joanna Dark

A screenshot of Joanna Dark from Perfect Dark (2024), The Initiative

Gamers are roasting Microsoft, Xbox, developer The Initiative, and Crystal Dynamics following gameplay reveal for Perfect Dark during the Xbox Games Showcase 2024.

A screenshot of Perfect Dark (2024), The Initiative

The companies released a gameplay reveal for their Perfect Dark reboot that sees agent Joanna Dark arrive in Garden City and she’s tasked on preventing an attack by a man named Carrington.

READ: Microsoft Shuts Down ‘Redfall’ Developer Arkane Austin, ‘Hi-Fi Rush’ Developer Tango Gameworks, And More

Following this gameplay reveal, players took issue with the character design of Joanna Dark noting they made her look more like a man than in previous versions of the franchise.

X user Mangalawyer mocked, “Perfect Dark transforms you into the ultimate secret agent. Joanna Dark’s perfectly symmetrical, masculine jawline makes her the ideal candidate for disguising herself as a man on the most dangerous missions. One day, she’s Joanna; the next, she’s Jonathan.”

Former World of Warcraft Team Lead Mark Kern reacted to a side by side of the new design and 2005’s Perfect Dark Zero character design. He posted, “Again with the Jaw! Perfect Dark Zero.”

READ: Gaming At Microsoft CEO Phil Spencer Claims Company’s Mass Layoffs Are Due To Lack Of Growth In The Video Game Industry

YouTuber Endymion wrote, “They modern audience’d the F*** out of Perfect Dark Zero bro what the fresh hell is this.”

YouTuber Melonie Mac wrote, “I will never forgive them for this, Joanna Dark gets the ‘modern audience’ treatment. The disrespect.”

Comic book creator The Quaff wrote, “Shame they gender swapped Joanna. Why is Microsoft afraid of female leads?”

READ: Microsoft-Owned Compulsion Games Supports Crystal Dynamics’ ‘Tomb Raider Remastered I-III’ Trigger Warning, Takes It A Step Further By Calling “To Rewrite New History”

Novelist John A. Douglas also posted, “She looks like Duke Nukem in a Karen wig.”

Michael Allred also wrote, “They must have hired the same consulting company as the Horizon Forbidden West developers. Never forget what they took from you.”

Zippydsmlee wrote, “They replaced the main character with a man.”

READ: 

Character design was not the only criticism the game faced. YouTuber RazörFist wrote on X, “I confess. I didn’t read ‘Perfect Dark will become a Mirror’s Edge clone’ in my tea leaves this morning. I guess we ran out of successful franchises (which Perfect Dark ironically is) and lapped back around to mimiographing games that flopped, now?”

Lucas Raycevick also added, “Of all IPs to dress up Deus Ex as, Perfect Dark‘s a great pick, but I continue to be extremely skeptical of its presentation when 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 is so… bland.”

All of this comes in the wake of Xbox boss Phil Spencer confirming back in 2021 that the intentions for the reboot were to feature a female protagonist and offer modern opportunities.

In an interview with IGN, Spencer said, “I think it’s awesome for us. We can focus on a female protagonist in our lineup. We don’t have a lot of that in our first-party [lineup].”

He added, “I think Joanna offers a lot of modern opportunities that I love to see the team kind of focusing on, having a strong protagonist.”

A screenshot of Joanna Dark from Perfect Dark (2024), The Initiative

READ: Microsoft Recommends Game Developers Question If Female Characters Wear Proper Clothing And If Games Are “Reinforcing Any Negative Gender Stereotypes”

It also comes in the wake of Microsoft making public their Gaming For Everyone’s Product Inclusion Framework which requires developers to ask a series of questions:

  • Are you reinforcing any negative gender stereotypes?
    • Are you unnecessarily introducing gender & gender barriers into your code or design?
    • Are you creating playable female characters that are equal in skill and ability to their male peers. Are your female characters equipped with clothing and armor that fits their tasks?  Do they have exaggerated body proportions?
    • When the story allows, do you show male characters who display a full range of emotions, including joy, sadness, and vulnerability?

A screenshot of Microsoft’s Product Inclusion Action: Help Customers Feel Seen

Microsoft’s Head of Gaming for Everyone & Sustainability Katy Jo Wright informed Games Industry that the framework is not compulsory telling the outlet, “The framework is not a checklist. It’s not a mandate. Even internally, it’s not that at all. It’s just… a way for you to get your game into the hands of more players in a meaningful way.”

However, the Help Customers Feel Seen Product Inclusion Action page does provide a checklist to achieve the goals developers come up with. The third step specifically states:

3. Create & surface content that depicts diverse characters, stories and creators 

  • Create playable characters that reflect the broader population. Review how identities represented on screen (gender identities, races, sexual orientations, ability status, ages, and body sizes) match up to the broader population. Make sure that characters are not tokenized or stereotyped based on their identities.
  • Review how identities represented in your product such as gender, race, sexuality, nationality, cultural, ability, age, and size compare to the broader global player population. Be intentional about which identities are present and highlighted according to what’s right for your product and market.
  • Make sure that characters are not tokenized or stereotyped based on their identities. No person or character can be a monolith to represent all people with that identity.
  • Practice inclusive casting for any talent required to bring representation to life in your product.
  • Validate your execution for your Inclusive Listening Systems (consultants/advisory councils, user research).

A screenshot of Microsoft’s Product Inclusion Action: Help Customers Feel Seen

What do you make of Joanna Dark’s new character design?

Author: John F. Trent
John F. Trent was a prior editor of That Park Place. He is host of the YouTube channel The Trent Report as well as the stock racing focused YouTube Channel John Trent Racing. Mr. Trent is founder of Bounding into Comics and left That Park Place on November 8th to focus on a Substack strategy with FandomPulse.
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