007: First Light Isn’t Part of the James Bond Film Canon

We’ve yet gotten our archetypal look astatine IO Interactive’s caller James Bond game: 007: First Light. It’s an root communicative of the infamous spy, showing however helium “earned the number” of 007.

So far, everything we’ve seen has been cinematic and story-focused, truthful determination are inactive plentifulness of questions lingering astir however First Light volition play, and who precisely this caller Bond volition be. Fortunately, I was capable to beryllium down with IO Interactive CEO Hakan Abrak astatine an IO Interactive lawsuit this play and grill him connected everything Bond. While helium wouldn’t archer maine who they had formed arsenic the caller Bond (the net thinks it’s Patrick Gibson, but Abrak says they’re “waiting a bit” to uncover the cast), helium did corroborate that 007: First Light isn’t portion of the movie canon; it’s a “standalone, reimagined interpretation.”

“I deliberation from the get-go that was highly important for america that we volition beryllium capable to enactment our fingerprints connected this,” Abrak said. “This is the archetypal crippled we are making that is not our IP. IO is simply a originative location that's created 5 archetypal IPs and we are doing the sixth IP connected the Fantasy Project [literally codenamed Project Fantasy] we're moving connected arsenic well. So we person to determination thing of ourselves into what we do.

“...It was specified a immense accidental to instrumentality specified a beloved franchise and past a privilege to beryllium capable to determination our originality into that. And our instrumentality was, well, we wanted to reimagine his becoming story. We wanted to reimagine a coming-of-age, this young antheral with each his quirkiness and optimism, his wits and his personality. Getting introduced to these intrigues and espionage, this harsh satellite of dog-eats-dog and however helium fares and however helium manages that with his interior values.”

But adjacent if the communicative itself is creating its ain canon autarkic from the movies, that doesn’t mean IO Interactive isn’t taking cues from the movie Bond. For one, Abrak said helium got “some insight” into however movie Bonds are typically formed and what the movie directors usually look for. But ultimately, IO Interactive was near to its ain devices arsenic to however it wanted to proceed connected selecting a caller Bond. And it did end up picking a existent actor.

“It was a blank slate, which is simply a immense privilege, that we tin formed these radical oregon effort to 3D-model something," helium said. "Is it going to beryllium an actor, oregon not, and what bash we do? So that was really, truly daunting. I archer you this, it took a agelong time, and we've been done a fewer models to fig retired what we wanted. But I deliberation the process was chaotic, to beryllium honest. I mean the process was feeling it, trying immoderate things out, feeling the emotional... And it's not needfully immense A/B tests retired determination with a batch of agencies and whatnot. It was precise important for america to consciousness his warmth oregon charm, his quirkiness and each these things. But past we recovered idiosyncratic and we’re really, truly blessed astir it today.”

We’ll beryllium publishing our afloat interrogation with Abrak aboriginal this week, including treatment of not conscionable 007: First Light, but besides the aboriginal of the Hitman franchise and upcoming IO Interactive-published crippled MindsEye. We’ll support waiting to perceive much astir 007: First Light, including gameplay, sometime soon. It launches successful 2026 for PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and S, and Nintendo Switch 2.

Rebekah Valentine is simply a elder newsman for IGN. You tin find her posting connected BlueSky @duckvalentine.bsky.social. Got a communicative tip? Send it to [email protected].