''007 First Light'' is an upcoming

action-adventure game An action-adventure game is a video game hybrid genre that combines core elements from both the action game and adventure game genres. Definition An action adventure game can be defined as a game with a mix of elements from an action ...

developed and published by

IO Interactive IO Interactive A/S (IOI) is a Danish video game developer and publisher based in Copenhagen, best known for creating and developing the ''Hitman'' and '' Kane and Lynch'' franchises. IO Interactive's most recent game is '' Hitman 3'', which was ...

. Based on the ''

James Bond The ''James Bond'' franchise focuses on James Bond (literary character), the titular character, a fictional Secret Intelligence Service, British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels ...

'' franchise under license from

Amazon MGM Studios Amazon MGM Studios is an American film and television production and distribution company owned by Amazon, and headquartered at the Culver Studios complex in Culver City, California. Launched on November 16, 2010, it took its current name on O ...

, it will tell an original narrative inspired by the novels and short stories by

Ian Fleming Ian Lancaster Fleming (28 May 1908 – 12 August 1964) was a British writer, best known for his postwar ''James Bond'' series of spy novels. Fleming came from a wealthy family connected to the merchant bank Robert Fleming & Co., and his ...

, and the long-running film franchise starring the character. The game will depict

's origin story, as he embarks on the mission he must complete to earn his

licence to kill ''Licence to Kill'' is a 1989 spy film, the sixteenth in the List of James Bond films, ''James Bond'' series produced by Eon Productions, and the second and final film to star Timothy Dalton as the MI6 agent James Bond (literary character), J ...

. Following the release of ''

007 Legends ''007 Legends'' is a first-person shooter video game featuring the character of British secret agent James Bond. It was developed by Eurocom and first released by Activision in October 2012 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, with Microsoft Windows ...

'' in October 2012, publisher

Activision Activision Publishing, Inc. is an American video game publisher based in Santa Monica, California. It serves as the publishing business for its parent company, Activision Blizzard, and consists of several subsidiary studios. Activision is one o ...

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 The is a hybrid video game console developed by Nintendo, released in most regions on June5, 2025. Like the original Nintendo Switch, Switch, it can be used as a Handheld game console, handheld, as a Tablet computer, tablet, or connected via ...

PlayStation 5 The PlayStation 5 (PS5) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. It was announced as the successor to the PlayStation 4 in April 2019, was launched on November 12, 2020, in Australia, Japan, New Zealand, North ...

Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...

and

Xbox Series X/S The Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S are the fourth generation of consoles in the Xbox series, succeeding the previous generation's Xbox One. Released on November 10, 2020, the higher-end Xbox Series X and lower-end Xbox Series S are part o ...

in 2026.

Premise

Setting and characters

''007 First Light'' will depict an original narrative that draws inspiration from the novels and short stories by

and the long-running film franchise featuring the character. Described as an

origin story In fiction, an origin story is an account or backstory revealing how a character or group of people become a protagonist or antagonist. In American comic books, it also refers to how characters gained their superpowers and/or the circumstances ...

for the character, the game will follow a young, inexperienced

, portrayed as 26 years old, as an inexperienced

MI6 The Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), commonly known as MI6 ( Military Intelligence, Section 6), is the foreign intelligence service of the United Kingdom, tasked mainly with the covert overseas collection and analysis of human intelligenc ...

agent who is tasked with a mission that when completed successfully, will grant him his 00 status. The story will also feature unique iterations of iconic characters such as M, Q, and Moneypenny, reimagined to reflect their roles in shaping Bond’s early career.

Development

''007 First Light'' is the first major game featuring James Bond following a long hiatus resulting from the critical and commercial failure of ''

'' (2012), which saw publisher

having its non-exclusive license to produce video games using the ''James Bond'' IP revoked by

Eon Productions Eon Productions Limited is a British film production company that primarily produces the ''James Bond'' film series. The company is based in London's Piccadilly and also operates from Pinewood Studios in the UK. ''James Bond'' films Eon wa ...

and

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, commonly shortened to MGM or MGM Studios) is an American Film production, film and television production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered ...

in January 2013. ''

Hitman Contract killing (also known as murder-for-hire) is a form of murder or assassination in which one party hires another party to kill a targeted person or people. It involves an illegal agreement which includes some form of compensation, moneta ...

'' series developer

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 " onwere not looking for a game," having grown dissatisfied with the action-oriented style and gameplay of the latest console ''Bond'' games under Activision. 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. The developer also emphasized their interest in pursuing an original interpretation of

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. 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). 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 Pinewood Studios is a British film and television studio located in the village of Iver Heath, England. It is approximately west of central London. The studio has been the base for many productions over the years from large-scale films to t ...

during production of ''

No Time to Die ''No Time to Die'' is a 2021 spy thriller film and the twenty-fifth in the List of James Bond films, ''James Bond'' series, and the fifth and final to star Daniel Craig as fictional British MI6 agent Portrayal of James Bond in film, James Bon ...

'' (2021), which instilled the "gravity" of taking on the ''Bond'' license. According to Abrak, the idea of depicting James Bond's origin and efforts to claim his

, an event only definitively and briefly portrayed in the opening of the

Daniel Craig Daniel Wroughton Craig (born 2 March 1968) is an English actor. His accolades include two National Board of Review Awards, in addition to nominations for a Primetime Emmy Award, a British Academy Film Award, and three Golden Globe Awards. ...

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.

Release

held a livestream on November 19, 2020 to announce their next game following the then-upcoming '' Hitman 3'' (2021), 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

and

. The announcement coincided with the official start of development at IOI's Denmark and Sweden studios. The game is being developed on the Glacier Engine for "modern systems and platforms." In February 2025,

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 Barbara Dana Broccoli ( ; born June 18, 1960) is an American-British film and stage producer, best known internationally for her work on the James Bond film series. With her half-brother Michael G. Wilson, Broccoli held overall creative contr ...

, making it the first ''Bond'' game to be released since Eon's departure from the series. The game was confirmed to be launching on

during the April 2025 installment of

Nintendo Direct Nintendo Direct is a series of online presentations or live shows produced by Nintendo, where information regarding the company's upcoming content or franchises is presented, such as information about games and consoles. The presentations began ...

. The game was formally unveiled as ''007 First Light'' on June 2, 2025, with the game's first trailer premiering at

Sony Interactive Entertainment Sony Interactive Entertainment LLC (SIE) is an American video game and digital entertainment company that is a major subsidiary of Japanese conglomerate Sony, Sony Group Corporation. It primarily operates the PlayStation brand of video game co ...

's State of Play presentation on June 4, and a deep dive on the title set to be featured during the publisher's IOI Showcase digital presentation on June 6. ''007 First Light'' is set to be released for

and

in 2026.

Future

IO Interactive CEO Hakan Abrak expressed in an interview with ''

IGN ''IGN'' is an American video gaming and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa district and is headed by its former e ...

'' 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." 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.

References

External links

Official website
{{IO Interactive Upcoming video games scheduled for 2026 Action-adventure games IO Interactive games James Bond video games Nintendo Switch 2 games Video games developed in Sweden Video games developed in Denmark Video games developed in Spain Spy video games Video games based on works by Ian Fleming Video games based on novels Windows games PlayStation 5 games Xbox Series X and Series S games