For its next game, IO Interactive is swapping the hitman for the spy for a venture that it no doubt hopes will leave you shaken and stirred.
Last month, Polygon was invited, alongside other journalists and creators, to a trip to IO Interactive’s studio in Copenhagen, where we got a first look at 007 First Light – IO’s first-ever venture into developing an IP that isn’t its own. And as CEO Hakan Abrak joked during the tour and first-look, it’s a venture that IO’s been unknowingly preparing from its infancy.
He isn’t wrong. The Hitman series, which follows deadly assassin Agent 47, is the gold standard of stealth games. It’s been around for 25 years now, and has spawned a handful of licensed films and novels, all delving deep into a world of espionage, murder, and intrigue. In other words, the studio is a natural fit — perhaps the most natural fit — for taking on a game about the world’s most famous spy.
IO was in the middle of finishing up Hitman 3, as well as working on another IP completely different from a man in a suit and gun, when it was first approached by Amazon MGM about potentially doing a James Bond game. The franchise continues to be a hot commodity, after all; who wouldn’t want to jump in and wrangle this beast into a medium that brings in billions each year?
As it turned out, IO had to warm to the idea. “As I said before, we only worked on creating our own original material,” Abrak explained during our meeting. As the talks continued, the developer began to fall more in love with the potential they could bring to a Bond game. “Unknowingly, we might have trained for this all our existence, right?”
After getting the chance to see 007 First Light for myself and knowing of the 62 years, 39 books, 27 films, and seven leading men (not to mention 27 video games) that make up the James Bond franchise, I can see why a studio well-known for its unique stealth gameplay and mechanics would be just the thing Amazon MGM and longtime Bond production company Eon Productions were looking for.
But Agent 47 is a very different character from James Bond. While the two have similar roles, Agent 47 is cold and detached, in some instances arguably more a machine than person. Bond, meanwhile, is consistently suave and charismatic, able to say the right thing at the right time in order to bypass trouble with the ease of a gentleman. It’s what has drawn fans to him for decades now, and what makes him such a recognizable figure across mediums.
IO wanted to make sure that its take on Bond was recognizable, certainly playing to the character fans have known for decades, but with a twist.
“He’s the new kid on the block,” Martin Emborg, 007 First Light cinematic and narrative director, said. “He’s still coming into himself. He has charm as a younger Bond, but just hasn’t weaponed it as effectively.” This version of James Bond, played by Patrick Gibson (Dexter: Original Sin), is a far cry from the level-headed older Bond you may recognize from films like Casino Royale and Diamonds Are Forever. In 007 First Light, players will watch him make his journey towards being that Bond.
After the “Iceland Incident,” an early mission in 007 First Light, Bond is recruited. He is surrounded by powerful people, people with far much more experience than him.
Each iteration of Bond is a product of its era, and this was what Emborg and the rest of the team at IO were aware of when bringing their version of Bond to life. Set in the modern day, the Bond that we’ll be playing as won’t be the same as Sean Connery or even Daniel Craig. His values are much more contemporary.
When asked what this would mean for the quintessential “Bond girl” — a character who often acts as Bond’s female companion, love interest, and, depending on the narrative themes, an enemy throughout the story — and how they would be treated, Emborg gave a brief but succinct answer: “As characters.”
The Bond girl has been around since the start of the franchise, and has always been a staple, whether that’s Michelle Yeoh in Tomorrow Never Dies or Léa Seydoux in Spectre. It’s long been a recurring argument that the Bond girl is well past its sexist sell-by-date and that Bond, as a franchise, is steeped in misogyny with its portrayal of women.
But, as Emborg puts it, their Bond? “Not a dinosaur.”
Bond isn’t the only one looking younger in this origin story. M, played by Priyanga Burford (Dr. Symes in No Time to Die), will also be stepping into the world of shadows as a kindred spirit with Bond. Like Bond, her work for MI6 is seen almost as that of a temp — but she’s so efficient and good at it that she’s had no choice but to stay on and defy everyone else’s expectations. Alongside Burford, IO confirmed the cast includes Lennie James (The Walking Dead) as John Greenway, Alistair Mackenzie (Andor) as Q, and Kiera Lester (Death in Paradise) as Moneypenny.
At the start of the preview of actual gameplay, which was hands-off, we first see Bond try to make a break away from the shadows of much more experienced MI6 agents, where we see Bond act as a chauffeur on a mission for other agents in tracking down a rogue agent, 009.
Running on a base PlayStation 5, it’s hard to deny just how gorgeous the game looks. The Bond franchise has always been voyeuristic tourism, and this time we’re in Slovakia with its beautifully constructed old buildings, rolling green hills, and the lavish lifestyle of the wealthy that Bond has always found himself immersed in.
Despite being told to wait in the car, Bond has other ideas when he sees a bellhop start to chuck luggage out of the window. Keen to investigate, he goes to follow, only to be stopped when his quarry heads into the hotel and he’s unable to follow. Up until now, the gameplay has been very linear and guided, but now the segment opens up and we finally get to see Bond in action as he tries to figure out how to get inside. There seems to be an open window up above, one that Bond could get to if he shimmied his way up there, but unfortunately there are multiple guests and guards watching. He needs a distraction.
Much as in Hitman, you’ll be able to use the environment around you to your advantage. Bond also has a very handy watch, one that allows you to take full note of his surroundings — from enemies, interactive objects, and even areas like grass, which you can hide in. It also reveals the number of gadgets (you can take four maximum with you out on the field) you can use. For this mission, Bond has a dart and a laser. He uses the former on a guard, which makes them sick enough to stumble off and attract the attention of others. Now able to access the area he couldn’t before without being spotted, Bond hides in the grass, sneaks past and grabs a spare lighter lying next to a fountain. He proceeds to set a wheelbarrow of flowers on fire.
With everyone now thoroughly distracted, Bond is finally free to climb over the ledge and get up to that window. He is immediately caught, but an option to “bluff” appears and Bond handles the situation with relative ease. Not going to lie, seeing NPCs believe Bond is part of a security detail after they just witnessed him climb out of a window seems a bit far-fetched, but I can look past it. Andreas Krogh, 007 First Light gameplay director, said there were some situations — and enemies — where it would be impossible to bluff.
Krogh also said there are multiple ways to get what and where you want in 007 First Light. In a later segment, we watched as Bond, after overhearing a PR manager frantic about wondering where a journalist was, pretended to be said journalist in order to gain access to another floor that he had previously been denied entry to.
Once inside, the gameplay segment skips ahead to a staple of all good spy and action films, and certainly the Bond films: a car chase. 009 is on the loose, and you and your mysterious companion Isola are the only ones close enough to catch him. I watched as Bond raced through narrow roads, turned tight corners, and used a ramp to soar through the air and crash throughout the Slovakian countryside. Glorious and fast-paced, young Bond yaps throughout the entire thing in a way that conveys his frantic but undeniably efficient energy.
Unfortunately, 009 has escaped his own vehicle and is heading to the airport. Bond, seeing no other option, rushes after him. It’s here that we’re introduced to a feature that I, personally, love and feel does a lot to differentiate between James Bond and IO’s own character, Agent 47.
Bond ends up traversing through a tunnel to the airport where an enemy combatant spots him. He warns him not to shoot, but as soon as the enemy pulls out his gun, the text “LICENSE TO KILL” flashes at the top of the screen. Bond, murmuring that he did warn them, pulls out his gun and fires – silencing them for good.
What I found particularly interesting about how this effectively plays into the “gentleman” role for Bond, who certainly doesn’t hold back during hand-to-hand combat and most definitely causes a staggering amount of brain trauma, but never goes out of his way to kill unless pressed. You’re also not able to just go around as Bond and effectively start punching innocents in the face the way you’re able to as Agent 47. This may be IO’s own version of Bond, but it’s still James Bond and it’s clear here that IO takes that vision seriously. Bond may be a killer, but he isn’t a violent maniac — he takes no pleasure in the act.
Krogh explained that the “LICENSE TO KILL” mechanic could come at the start of a mission or midway through it, depending on the circumstances. In the chase of 009, it’s become clear that violence is now inevitable and we get a first glimpse at combat.
Bond is a master gunman, able to take out enemies with his pistol with ease. He’s also able to pick up enemies’ guns, using them normally and, to my own delight, even chuck them at a combatant and follow up with his fists. At one point, Bond launched himself and an enemy off a walkway, used his body as a way to soften his fall, then picked up the weapon and continued firing.
Bond also has an ability called Focus, which is designed to be sparingly used, but slows down time when activated — think Max Payne or Red Dead Redemption. As Bond fights his way throughout the airport to get to 009, he uses it to pick off a car racing towards him and shoot at barrels, which explodes and shrouds the screen in a fireball. Frankly, it feels very badass.
The gameplay segment ends on an even more incendiary note: Bond free-falling as the airplane explodes around him.
I wouldn’t describe myself as the biggest Bond fan in the world, but I couldn’t help but admit my curiosity for IO’s take on the character. What does a modern Bond game look like? Can it succeed in the modern era? Society has known this guy for six decades. Is this new approach different enough to attract a new audience? Is it the same enough to attract an old one?
What became clear as the tour came to the end was IO’s desire for a Bond that not only could have their mark on it, but a Bond that fans of video games could have for themselves.
“It’s contemporary, it’s near future. Part of the challenge [for us] is, does a 17-year old, 19-year old, 21-year old, do they know Bond? They’ve heard about it, right? But do they have the same experience I had, maybe not in the same degree,” Abrak explained. “So let this game be a way for them to get acquainted with this fantasy of Bond, of being in the gaming space. That’s what we’re trying to do.”
007 First Light is out March 27, 2026, for Nintendo Switch 2, PlayStation 5, Windows PC, and Xbox Series X.
