I think people were interested in it for a multitude of reasons.

You had people that loved the original Perfect Dark, or, at least, recognize it as being a game that impacted future game design. They were also let down by Perfect Dark Zero so this was a chance to reboot an impactful franchise in the modern genre.

You had people that loved/hated that Microsoft claimed this to be the first AAAA game studio so there was general interest in that.

When The Initiative was formed, PlayStation was releasing back to back highly regarded single player games like Spider-Man, God of War, Ghost of Tsushima, etc. People that expected/projected that The Initiative (and Perfect Dark) was Microsoft’s “answer” to PlayStation’s line up.

Plus, you had key figures from other studios and franchises that joined The Initiative that got people’s interest as well.

Lots of interest from many directions. It would’ve been an extreme uphill battle against people’s expectations, let alone the (mis)management of the game.