IO Interactive Won’t Self-Publish Future James Bond Games; Amazon Will Have More Control

Future sequels to 007 First Light will be published by Amazon and MGM, not IO Interactive. In an interview with Polygon, Jeff Gattis, GM of gaming at Amazon, confirmed that Amazon Game Studios will handle publishing on future James Bond games.

“We did not [make First Light],” Gattis explained. “We do have a stake in it because we now own the IP, but that IP acquisition happened after the First Light IO deal was already done.”

The deal Gattis is referring to is the one that allowed IO Interactive the power to self-publish 007 First Light, similar to Hitman 3. IO Interactive signed on to make Bond when the franchise was under control of MGM and EON Productions, the production company that managed the James Bond brand for decades. However, Amazon acquired MGM in 2021 (a year after the game had been announced) and eventually took full creative control of Bond in 2025.

Amazon and MGM still collaborated on 007 First Light to ensure the game was in line with what’s expected from the brand, but it sounds like Amazon may have more control going forward. According to Gattis, sequels will be “done by MGM and, theoretically, by Amazon Game Studios.”

It’s important to note that Amazon Game Studios is a publishing arm of Amazon. AGS is publishing the next two Tomb Raider titles, for instance. As a result, IO Interactive will likely continue to develop future Bond titles.

However, this also means Amazon would be financially backing the project, meaning it may have a bigger say in what it wants to see in the game. Gattis even noted that Amazon is expanding into games to create synergy with Amazon’s films and TV shows, something that will be undeniably important with the upcoming James Bond film.

“We think that’s a real opportunity for us to create IP that extends — or kind of expands upon — TV shows and movies. So there’ll be a Tomb Raider TV show on Prime Video that’ll go alongside the games. There’s a lot of things we have in the works on new games that’ll relate to Prime Video IP.”

It seems like a sequel is all but guaranteed, as 007 First Light sold 1.5 million copies in its first 24 hours and IO Interactive overtly expressed its intentions for a sequel at the end of the game with a bold title card that read “James Bond will return.” IO Interactive also previously stated its desire to do a trilogy of 007 games.

IGN’s Luke Reilly also gave 007 First Light a 9/10 in our review, noting that it is “obsessed with bringing the Bond fantasy to life in a way no one has ever managed before” and that “007 First Light is the best Bond game I’ve ever played.”

Cade Onder is a freelancer for IGN’s news team. He covers all things entertainment, including gaming, film, and more. You can find him on Twitter @Cade_Onder.