007 First Light’s real budget makes the James Bond game Denmark’s most expensive entertainment project ever

007 First Light James Bond holding a pistol as an explosion goes off

Published:

1 June 2026

Last Updated: 1 June 2026

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IO Interactive’s James Bond video game, 007 First Light, is reportedly the most expensive entertainment project in the history of Denmark.

While IO has yet to officially confirm the budget of its just-released James Bond game, the game is definitively the studio’s most expensive project. In a prior interview, CEO Hakan Abrak confirmed the game’s budget was higher than Hitman 2016’s $100 million, but how much did it actually cost?

According to the Danish Broadcasting Company, thanks MP1ST, IO’s Bond adventure cost DKK 1.3 Billion to develop. At current exchange rates, that equates to $202 Million, around double that of Hitman 2016. However, the game did take seven years to develop compared to Hitman’s four-year development.

According to TV 2 in Denmark, 007 First Light marks the most expensive Danish entertainment project of all time. However, that record was likely previously held by IO’s own Hitman 2016 due to the relatively low budgets of film and TV in the region.

For example, Denmark’s most expensive film of all time is currently 2021’a Margrete: Queen of the North with a budget of just DKK 73 Million, or $9.8 million. That record was previously held by 2008’s Flame & Citron, which cost just DKK 55 Million or $8.6 Million.

While the budget for 007 First Light is indeed high, although still lower than most AAA game budgets these days, the James Bond title has sold very well. At the time of writing, the Bond title is IO’s fastest-selling game of all time with 1.5 million copies sold on launch day.

Additionally, as the studio continues to add new missions to the game after launch, the game could have a long tail. This would mean that the game could continue to sell as additional content, in the form of TacSim missions, are added to the game, just like IO’s Hitman games.

Furthermore, IO is looking to create more games in its new James Bond series. While no official sequel has been confirmed at the time of writing, multiple developers have expressed a desire for a continuation. The game itself also teases potential sequels with a hidden threat “hiding in the shadows”. Blofeld? I mean, let’s face it, absolutely so.

007 First Light is available right now on PC, Xbox Series, and PS5. The game is coming to Nintendo Switch 2 later this Summer after a small delay.

About The Author

Lewis White

Lewis White is a veteran games journalist with over a decade in the field. Starting with beloved Xbox website ICXM/XboxMAD, Lewis became the Gaming Editor at MSPoweruser before becoming the Editor in Chief of StealthOptional and Gfinityesports. Lewis later jumped to By Gamers For Gamers where he jumped to become EIC of VideoGamer and the host of the New VideoGamer Podcast prior to the website’s acquisition.

Over the years, Lewis has also seen long-form investigative pieces published in outlets such as Eurogamer, PCGamesN, Wireframe, Retro Gamer, Nintendo Life, and EDGE. Now, as the Editor in Chief of FRVR Blog, Lewis strives to bring the same level of quality journalism with interview-led content to the site in both written and audio form with the FRVR Podcast.

With a First Degree BA Hons in Games Journalism and Public Relations, Lewis has been a stable part of the British games press for over a decade, and has frequently displayed his love of Halo, The Elder Scrolls, Fallout, and other games pretty much everywhere he’s worked. And FRVR is no different.

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