Perfect Dark 0 was originally slated for a Nintendo Gamecube release, but in September 2002, Nintendo decided to officially sell its share of developer Rare Ltd. to Microsoft. The year before, Nintendo had the opportunity to purchase the company, and refused. Since Rare Ltd. was sold to Microsoft, and Perfect Dark is a license owned by Rare Ltd., the game was now scheduled for an X-Box release, with character art different from the original Perfect Dark game.