In 2020, when IO Interactive (IOI), the Danish studio perhaps best known for creating the Hitman franchise, announced that they would be developing an original James Bond title, many people, myself included, thought that they would absolutely be the best fit for such a project.
Five years later, after the game, now called 007: First Light, was finally revealed, that initial gut feeling remains as strong as ever. From the get-go, I’m intrigued by the fact that IOI’s Bond seems to be more accurate to Ian Fleming’s description and that they decided to kick off what might be a series of games with a story in which he is not yet the 007 we know and love but, rather, only a recruit in MI6’s training program.
I was fortunate enough to see 007: First Light in action behind closed doors at gamescom 2025, and came away thoroughly impressed. This Bond is rash and reckless—unlike Hitman’s Agent 47—but much of IOI’s trademark stealth DNA remains. The mission I previewed, set at a luxurious mountain resort in Slovakia, saw Bond and fellow recruits tracking down a rogue agent. To his frustration, Bond was initially tasked as the getaway driver. Naturally, things went wrong quickly, forcing him to incapacitate or distract guards, adopt disguises to blend in and deploy an array of gadgets. Classic agent-in-training manoeuvres.
My takeaway from this half-hour, hands-off demo is simple: IOI appears to be crafting something truly special.
After my appointment, I got the chance to speak to the franchise art director, Rasmus Poulsen, and ask him about the key ways in which 007: First Light will be different from their work on Hitman, collaborating with brands such as British luxury car manufacturer Aston Martin, whether or not this is the first of a series of IOI Bond entries and more:
To begin with, what are some key ways in which 007: First Light is different from your work on the Hitman franchise?
Rasmus Poulsen: Well, 007 is a much more narratively driven action-adventure game…you are stepping into the shoes of this young Bond as he dives into the world of espionage. And, you are experiencing the world both as him but also with him. So, that’s probably one of the main differences.
Moving on to what might be similar, from the spywork to the over-the-top villain, some players and journalists thought that Hitman III’s final mission, “Untouchable”, is exactly what they would expect from an IO Interactive James Bond title. Was that mission intended as a first taste of what’s to come?
Rasmus Poulsen: There was no intended overlap as such, but, of course, since we’ve been inspired by Bond for 20 years, I’m not surprised that there is, let’s say, Bond DNA and footprints all over what we were doing, which, of course, makes this outing so exciting to us: it’s certainly true that Bond has inspired us for a long time.
In the first trailer shown, keen-eyed fans have noticed the book-accurate scar on Bond’s face – can we expect your version of Bond to be inspired more by Ian Fleming’s novels?
Rasmus Poulsen: Well, when you look at a 60-year-old IP, there are a lot of different variations of what Bond should and can be. As such, we certainly dove into the books to find inspiration and, among them, [we found] the scar. Another thing is that Fleming does not describe him as traditionally handsome, which means that it is imperative that he has qualities to him that are not about looks but more about behaviour. He’s, of course, a man of action, but he certainly also has this dry British wit, right? So, we’ve taken inspiration from the whole franchise, but certainly from the books, as well.
Touching on the story a bit: it is known that James Bond, not yet 007, is in pursuit of a rogue agent. What challenges, would you say, stand between him and the legendary codename?
Rasmus Poulsen: Good question. Well, he is thrown into the newly reformed training program of the 00 agents, much to the dismay of his mentor and trainer, Greenway. M is a little more, let’s say, interested in improving not only what Bond can do, but also her instincts. So, in that sense, Bond’s immediate desire is to convince Greenway that he actually belongs there.
Beyond Slovakia, which I saw in the presentation, as James Bond stories tend to be globetrotting adventures, what are some locations that fans can expect to traverse in First Light?
Rasmus Poulsen: I can’t give you specifics about the locations, but I can certainly tell you that you can expect a variety of missions that will take you to both dense and crowded locations to empty and desolate ones.
Sticking to the locations: do they tend to be linear or more open?
Rasmus Poulsen: Certain aspects of the missions will be more linear and narrow, but, even though it’s narrow, there will still be gameplay that allows a certain amount of width, be that from social manipulation to gadget use and combat. And then, we have areas in which the game opens up more, and you get to make more use of your, let’s say, human skills, and you can observe and decide on the next step. However, it’s important for us to stay on the front foot, because it’s key to the Bond IP that things are moving quickly and that it is an action-adventure title, after all: it’s less about planning and more about opportunity.
In the spirit of the many disguises available in Hitman, can we expect select suits for your James Bond? Maybe something inspired by movies?
Rasmus Poulsen: We will talk about all that stuff at a later date. I can’t really talk about that yet.
I understand. So, in the presentation I saw, there were a lot of brands associated with James Bond, most notably Aston Martin, that will make an appearance in First Light. How was the process of working with the companies behind these famous brands?
Rasmus Poulsen: It’s been super exciting! And, again, without revealing too much, I’ll just say that we’re working on some cool stuff with our partners at Aston Martin and OMEGA. It’s been really fun to see how engaged they are in bringing this project to life and how really excited they were about making cool things together. I’m really pleased to say that it’s been a good experience.
Lastly, the name First Light and the premise of the game imply that there might be more James Bond games to come from IO Interactive – are there any concrete plans in this sense, especially since there was already talk of a potential trilogy?
Rasmus Poulsen: You can say that First Light is certainly the birth of the guy, but, beyond that…that’s all I can say. The call for adventure is really what the title is about.
OO7: First Light is set to release on Xbox Series X / S, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch 2 and PC in 2026.
