page_title: Perfect Dark Zero
section_title: Marketing and release
hierarchical_section_title: Perfect Dark Zero / Marketing and release
caption_attribution_description: The Xbox 360, a video game console released by Microsoft in 2005. This is the "Pro" model from the launch line-up, which featured a 20GB hard drive, wireless controller and a silver DVD bezel. The production date of this unit is 2005-11-05, making it a very early unit. Of note is the gray on the hard drive at the top, which is very shiny and silvery. This was changed to a matte gray in later models.
context_page_description: Perfect Dark Zero is a first-person shooter video game developed by Rare and published by Microsoft Game Studios. It was exclusively released as a launch title for the Xbox 360 video game console in 2005. The game is part of the Perfect Dark series and a prequel to the original Perfect Dark. The story of the game follows Joanna Dark, a bounty hunter working with her father and a computer hacker, as she joins the Carrington Institute agency to prevent a rival corporation from gaining possession of an ancient artefact which endows individuals with superhuman powers.
  Perfect Dark Zero features a campaign mode consisting of 14 missions that can be played co-operatively and a multiplayer mode where a maximum of 32 players can compete against each other in numerous types of deathmatch and objective-based games. Both the co-operative and multiplayer modes support split screen, system link, and the Xbox Live online service. The game was under development for five years and was originally intended to be released for the Nintendo GameCube and later the Xbox. During development, several intended features were canceled so that the game could meet the Xbox 360 launch.
context_section_description: Perfect Dark Zero made its first appearance at Spaceworld 2000, an annual video game trade show hosted by Nintendo in Tokyo. The demo briefly showed a 3D real-time render of Joanna Dark. Some reports further suggested the development of the game with Rare applying to trademark the names "After Dark", "Perfect Dark Evolution" and the phrase "Shot in the Dark". The next year, at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in June 2001, Nintendo advertised the title "Perfect Dark Zero" on a list of upcoming GameCube releases, but it was quickly removed. In January 2002, it was allegedly announced that its release was pushed back to 2004 due to internal team problems at Rare. When Rare was purchased by Microsoft in September 2002, several cartoony images of Joanna Dark were released, but few other official announcements were made in the following years.
  In May 2005, one of the rewards in the OurColony viral marketing campaign for Microsoft's Xbox 360 console was a new image of Joanna Dark. At the official unveiling of the Xbox 360, it was revealed that Perfect Dark Zero would be a launch title for the new system in the fall of 2005. A demo was shown during the Electronic Entertainment Expo 2005 shortly afterwards. Prior to its release, Microsoft arranged a deal with Tor Books to produce a novel series set in the Perfect Dark universe. The first novel, entitled Perfect Dark: Initial Vector and written by Greg Rucka, was released on October 4, 2005. A six-issue comic book series written by Eric Trautmann and illustrated by Cold FuZion Studios was also announced. Around the same time, Joanna Dark made an appearance on the cover of FHM magazine. An official soundtrack album featuring a selection of music from the game was produced by Nile Rodgers and released on November 8, 2005 through Sumthing Else Music Works.
  The first release of the game came on November 22, 2005 in North America. The game was playable at the Xbox 360 Zero Hour Launch event, along with other Xbox 360 launch titles such as Rare's Kameo: Elements of Power and Activision's Call of Duty 2. Other releases followed on December 2 in Europe and on December 10 in Japan. In Europe, Microsoft organized a party by simulating an apartment as Joanna Dark's home, where several journalists could play the Xbox 360. During the Japanese launch weekend, Perfect Dark Zero became the second best-selling Xbox 360 game with roughly 15,000 units sold, behind Namco's Ridge Racer 6.
  Perfect Dark Zero was released in both a standard edition and a limited collector's edition. The collector's edition features a disc with behind-the-scenes content, a black metal game case, a special-edition comic booklet which sets the scene for the game, and one of nine holographic collectible cards. As of October 2006, the game had sold more than one million units worldwide. As a result, it was one of the first games to be re-released under the "Platinum Hits" list. In 2015, Perfect Dark Zero was released as a backward compatible game for the Xbox One and included in the Rare Replay compilation. In 2019, the game was enhanced for the Xbox One with higher resolutions, faster frame rates, and improved textures.
caption: Perfect Dark Zero was released as a launch title for the Xbox 360.
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