Work was plagued by scope creep. Originally, the game had multiple playable characters (including a mage and a warrior). By mid-1997, management forced a focus solely on the thief, Garrett. This “dark project” software work required scrapping 18 months of partial code. The result? A laser-focused stealth system that felt revolutionary.
Release: November 30, 1998. The software received 92% on Metacritic. dark project software work
Open source benefits from thousands of eyes. Dark projects rely on small teams (often 1–3 engineers per component). With no outside review, bugs become operational failures. One logic error in a cryptographic handshake could compromise an entire operation. Work was plagued by scope creep
Example:
Example:
This document outlines a structured approach to planning, developing, and delivering a "dark project" in software — a covert, highly confidential, or experimental initiative that must be developed with strict secrecy, tight access control, and careful risk management. It covers objectives, governance, team structure, security and operational controls, development workflow, testing and release, compliance, and post-launch considerations. Examples illustrate how to apply each section to real-world scenarios. Open source benefits from thousands of eyes