It’s been revealed that Michael Jackson spent time working on his own dark fantasy game with an original soundtrack.
In a new blog post, Shiny Entertainment founder David Perry revealed that Jackson contacted him to find out if he could play their upcoming game Enter The Matrix early. Afterwards, Jackson invited Perry to help him think about a Michael Jackson video game. “We began taking meetings at Neverland and exploring what the game could be. The important thing is that we were not trying to make a vanity project,” Perry wrote.
“The concept we explored was a serious, cinematic, third-person action-adventure game. Michael would not be the main character. Instead, he would bring something more powerful: original music, imagination, access to the worlds of film and celebrity, and his unique sense of wonder.”
I once got invited to Neverland to talk with Michael Jackson about video games.
That sentence still feels unreal to write.
This story includes an egg fight, a private arcade, Enter the Matrix, Marlon Brando, David Blaine, and the Michael Jackson game we almost made.
It was one…
— David Perry (@dperry) June 1, 2026
According to Perry, the game went through several names – The Final War, Solo, The Darkness, and eventually Dark Rim. “The early version was a fantasy action-adventure about kingdoms, war, magic, and a hero caught between different versions of the truth. Later, it shifted toward something darker and more psychological: dreams, depression, consciousness, and a hidden realm beyond sleep.”
During the process, talk turned to Jackson releasing his next album through the video game. A deluxe version would follow on CD and vinyl. “At the time, games were already enormous, but there were still millions of people who did not really understand them,” explained Perry. “They thought games were for someone else, for kids, or teenagers. But Michael’s audience was global. It crossed generations, countries, and cultures. If the only way to hear his next album was to play a video game, then a huge number of people would play a video game for the first time. It was ambitious. Maybe too ambitious. But that was the point.”
The project was never completed because “life took its turn”, says Perry. Seven months after Enter The Matrix launched, Jackson was charged with seven counts of child molestation, before being acquitted two years later. He died in June 2009. “We had never signed an actual contract to publish the game, and I will not be releasing the materials,” Perry added. “But the conversations were real, and the idea still feels meaningful to me.”
In other news, after selling more than a million copies in 24 hours, Amazon has confirmed a 007 First Light sequel will happen – but it might look very different.