Here's Why You Can Find A Piece Of Cheese In Every Level Of Perfect Dark

Where does the time go? It's been more than two years since Microsoft's The Initiative formally announced its plans to reboot the "Perfect Dark" series, but we still don't have any idea of when to expect Joanna Dark's newest adventure. Recent reports don't sound too good, and it seems there are some pretty tumultuous goings-on behind the scenes at The Initiative, the studio working on the game. It could still be years before this secret agent action series starts making new fans. 

While we wait, however, we can always revisit the older titles to shoot some baddies and hunt down some cheese. Yes, cheese. Fans of the original "Perfect Dark" are probably familiar with sneaking around enemy hideouts and scouring for secrets only to find wedges of cheese in the oddest of places. While one might be tempted to think that the goons in Perfect Dark are simply a hungry bunch that continue to misplace their snacks, the real reason behind each wayward piece of swiss is actually due to a funny, little story from the "Perfect Dark" art team.

While the newest game is being handled by Microsoft's The Initiative, the original "Perfect Dark" games were a product of Rare Limited. As part of its "Rare Revealed" series that presents anecdotes from behind the scenes of its games, the origin of this cheesy mystery was finally exposed. Was each piece of cheese actually part of a nefarious plot dreamed up by Joanna Dark's foes at the evil corporation dataDyne? Not exactly.

"I will solve the mystery about the cheese in Perfect Dark," said B Jones, a member of the art team that worked on the first game. "Now it's pretty lame, but this is the actual reason for it." She goes on to explain that while working on the president's plane for the level "Airforce One: Antiterrorism," she stopped by fellow artist Ross Bury's workstation and accidentally planted the seed for its game's biggest secret. "He had made some bit of the plane, some doohickey, and I went up to him and said, 'You see that? Looks like you made a slice of cheese ...' So every level Ross went into, where he edited it, there is a piece of cheese hidden somewhere in it. That's the reason."

Well, there it is! It may not be an earth-shattering revelation that sheds new light on some "Perfect Dark" lore, but it's always fun to hear a story about game developers sneaking little easter eggs into their work. Again, while the newest reboot is likely years away, Microsoft seems to have plenty of plans for Xbox reboots that fans can look forward to in the future.