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007 First Light

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007 First Light
Developer(s)IO Interactive
Publisher(s)IO Interactive
SeriesJames Bond
EngineGlacier Engine
Platform(s)
Release2026
Genre(s)Action-adventure
Mode(s)Single-player

007 First Light is an upcoming action-adventure game developed and published by IO Interactive under license from Amazon MGM Studios, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Eon Productions. Based on the James Bond franchise, it will tell an original narrative inspired by the novels and short stories by Ian Fleming, and the long-running film franchise starring the character. The game will depict James Bond's origin story, as he embarks on the mission he must complete to earn his licence to kill.

Following the release of 007 Legends in October 2012, publisher Activision had its non-exclusive licence to produce James Bond video games revoked by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Eon Productions, resulting in an extended hiatus for video games adapting the franchise. MGM, Eon and IO Interactive announced the development of a new James Bond game in November 2020. The game entered full production at IOI following the completion of Hitman 3 (2021), and was fully revealed in June 2025.

007 First Light is scheduled to be released for Nintendo Switch 2, PlayStation 5, Windows and Xbox Series X/S in 2026.

Premise

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Setting and characters

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007 First Light will depict an original narrative that draws inspiration from the novels and short stories by Ian Fleming and the long-running film franchise featuring the character.[1] Described as an origin story for the character,[2] the game will follow a young, inexperienced James Bond, an MI6 agent who is tasked with a mission that when completed successfully, will grant him his 00 status.[3][4][5]

Development

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007 First Light is the first major game featuring James Bond following a long hiatus resulting from the critical and commercial failure of 007 Legends (2012), which saw publisher Activision having its non-exclusive license to produce video games using the James Bond IP revoked by Eon Productions and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in January 2013.[6][7]

Hitman series developer IO Interactive met with Eon Productions to pitch their own vision for a James Bond video game as they were developing Hitman 3 (2021). According to company president Hakan Abrak, the studio was under the impression that "[Eon] were not looking for a game," having grown dissatisfied with the action-oriented style and gameplay of the latest console Bond games under Activision.[8] Chief creative officer Christian Elverdam stated that a move away from relying on weapons to complete missions was an integral part of the studio's pitch to Eon, citing their work on Hitman as a game where violent solutions were actively discouraged, as an example of how Eon were convinced by IO Interactive that there was a "sophistication" in how the developers approached espionage gameplay.[9]

The developer also emphasized their interest in pursuing an original interpretation of James Bond divorced from any of the prior literary and cinematic incarnations of the character, as they wished to apply a similar effort to creating their own narrative for an existing IP as they did for any of their original projects and characters.[10] This includes the likeness of James Bond himself, which will not be derived from any of the actors to portray him on film, a first for the character in a playable capacity since James Bond 007: Agent Under Fire (2001).[11]

Elverdam was also excited at the prospect of having a version of James Bond produced from the ground up for gaming, remarking on how it removed expectations that their version of the character would have to adhere to characteristics of pre-existing iterations while also being a take on the property "gamers can call their own." He additionally recalled a trip the development team made to Pinewood Studios during production of No Time to Die (2021), which instilled the "gravity" of taking on the Bond license.[12] According to Abrak, the idea of depicting James Bond's origin and efforts to claim his licence to kill, an event only definitively and briefly portrayed in the opening of the Daniel Craig film Casino Royale (2006), was enthusiastically received between IO Interactive and Eon, who were both receptive to the idea of a narrative that is "completely beginning and becoming a story" as opposed to directly adapting the plot of an existing Bond film.[13]

Release

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IO Interactive held a livestream on November 19, 2020 to announce their next game following the then-upcoming Hitman 3 (2021),[14] which concluded with the reveal of Project 007, a new James Bond video game with an original story developed and published by IOI, in collaboration with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Eon Productions.[15] The announcement coincided with the official start of development at IOI's Denmark and Sweden studios.[16] The game is being developed on the Glacier Engine for "modern systems and platforms."[17] In February 2025, Amazon MGM Studios took over supervisory duties on the title after acquiring full creative and production rights to the James Bond IP from Eon and former film franchise producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli, making it the first Bond game to be released since Eon's departure from the series.[18][19] The game was confirmed to be launching on Nintendo Switch 2 during the April 2025 installment of Nintendo Direct.[20] The game was formally unveiled as 007 First Light on June 2, 2025, with the game's first trailer premiering at Sony Interactive Entertainment's State of Play presentation on June 4,[21] and a deep dive on the title set to be featured during the publisher's IOI Showcase digital presentation on June 6.[22][23]

007 First Light is set to be released for Nintendo Switch 2, PlayStation 5, Windows and Xbox Series X/S in 2026.[24]

Future

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IO Interactive CEO Hakan Abrak expressed in an interview with IGN that he wished for 007 First Light to lead into a potential trilogy of James Bond video games for the publisher, citing the decision to create a new, younger version of the character for gaming audiences to "call their own and grow with."[25] Abrak previously stated his desire to progress the James Bond narrative through "multiple" games in a similar fashion to IO's Hitman: World of Assassination trilogy (2016–2021), stating that such an ambition motivated them to pursue a licensing deal after previously rejecting offers for other video games using external properties.[26]

References

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  1. ^ Tassi, Paul. "'Hitman' Developer Is Making 'Project 007,' A James Bond Origin Story". Forbes. Retrieved April 22, 2025.
  2. ^ "IO Interactive officially announces 007 First Light". Gematsu. June 2, 2025. Retrieved June 2, 2025.
  3. ^ "Next James Bond Game Will Focus On A "Young" Bond, Aims To Launch New Trilogy". GameSpot. Retrieved April 22, 2025.
  4. ^ Briscuso, Lex (April 2, 2025). "James Bond Origin Story Game Project 007 Officially Coming to Nintendo Switch 2". IGN. Retrieved April 22, 2025.
  5. ^ "New James Bond Game 007 First Light: Everything We Know So Far, Including Reveal This Week". GameSpot. Retrieved June 2, 2025.
  6. ^ "Activision loses James Bond licence?". Metro. January 4, 2013. Retrieved June 5, 2025.
  7. ^ Sinclair, Brendan (January 4, 2013). "Activision 007 games pulled from digital stores". GamesIndustry.biz. Retrieved June 5, 2025.
  8. ^ Fillari, Alessandro (November 7, 2023). "Before Project 007 was greenlit, the Hitman studio had to convince the James Bond rights-holders to give video game adaptations another shot: "They were not looking for a game"". GamesRadar+. Retrieved April 21, 2025.
  9. ^ Spencer, Alex (January 4, 2024). "From Hitman to 007 and everything between – Edge magazine goes behind the scenes with IO Interactive". GamesRadar+. Retrieved April 21, 2025.
  10. ^ Barnett, Brian (April 5, 2021). "Hitman Dev's James Bond Game Is an Original Story Drawing From the Franchise's Entire History – IGN Unfiltered". IGN. Retrieved April 21, 2025.
  11. ^ Oloman, Jordan (January 26, 2021). "Hitman Developer's James Bond Won't Be Based on Any Previous Actor". IGN. Retrieved May 1, 2025.
  12. ^ Purchese, Robert (March 16, 2023). "Hitman studio IO opens up a little about its James Bond 007 game". Eurogamer.net. Retrieved April 21, 2025.
  13. ^ Bailey, Kat (October 16, 2024). "Project 007 Is a 'Young Bond for Gamers' and Hopefully the Start of a New Trilogy, IO Interactive Boss Says". IGN. Retrieved April 21, 2025.
  14. ^ Chalk, Andy (November 18, 2020). "Hitman studio IO Interactive will reveal a new project tomorrow morning". PC Gamer. Retrieved April 21, 2025.
  15. ^ Ruppert, Liana. "IO Interactive's New Game Is A 007 James Bond Origins Story". Game Informer. Retrieved April 21, 2025.
  16. ^ "Announcing Project 007". IO Interactive. November 19, 2020. Retrieved April 21, 2025.
  17. ^ Barker, Sammy (November 19, 2020). "Project 007 Targeting Modern Systems, Will Run on Glacier Engine". Push Square. Retrieved April 21, 2025.
  18. ^ Svetkey, Benjamin (March 7, 2025). "License to Shill: Inside Amazon's 007 Takeover". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved June 3, 2025.
  19. ^ Zalben, Alex (February 21, 2025). "The Bond Franchise Sale to Amazon MGM Is Probably Bad News... But Here Are Some Ways It Could Work". IGN. Retrieved June 3, 2025.
  20. ^ Kennedy, Victoria (April 2, 2025). "IOI's James Bond game confirmed for Switch 2". Eurogamer.net. Retrieved April 21, 2025.
  21. ^ "Unveiling 007 First Light, IO Interactive's James Bond action-adventure game". PlayStation.Blog. June 4, 2025. Retrieved June 5, 2025.
  22. ^ Valentine, Rebekah (June 2, 2025). "James Bond Game From Hitman Dev Has a New Title, 007 First Light, Official Reveal This Week". IGN. Retrieved June 2, 2025.
  23. ^ "IO Interactive Showcase set for June 6". Gematsu. June 2, 2025. Retrieved June 2, 2025.
  24. ^ Webster, Andrew (June 4, 2025). "James Bond game 007 First Light gets first trailer". The Verge. Retrieved June 5, 2025.
  25. ^ Tailby, Stephen (October 17, 2024). "IO Interactive's Project 007 to Feature a 'Young Bond for Gamers' with a View to a Trilogy". Push Square. Retrieved April 22, 2025.
  26. ^ Stanton, Rich (November 9, 2023). "IO got the 007 license because it wants to make 'multiple Bond games' in the same way it handled Hitman". PC Gamer. Retrieved April 22, 2025.
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