While IO Interactive’s James Bond game 007 First Light is built on similar bones to the iconic game developer’s Hitman: World of Assassination series, the upcoming espionage game has forced the studio to truly look at areas that “weren’t good” in the studio’s last trilogy.

Speaking to Game Informer, 007 First Light game director Hakan Abrak said that “Bond is different” to the premeditated nature of Agent 47’s adventure. While you can play the Hitman games as freeform as you like, Bond’s tale features less pre-planning and more raw instinct than the team’s prior games.

While the Hitman games have always catered to the “all guns blazing approach”, especially the most recent titles, it always felt secondary to the core stealth loop. Cover shooting mechanics during firefights, for example, always felt quite static, lacking dynamism – while post mission ‘Silent Assassin’ status would reward players for minimal collateral damage.

In First Light, shooting and combat is a core component of the game – requiring it to complement Bond’s dynamic, unplanned character. While loose gunplay can work well for Agent 47, tighter controls and more satisfying feedback were key necessities for 007 First Light.

 “It was very obvious for us to just say, ‘Okay, we have a stealth loop in Hitman, and a way of approaching that with environment interactions and the moment-to-moment, second-to-second gameplay that we like and saw users like.’ It was obvious for us to bring that to the table. But on the other hand, we knew we had a new game here, with a new protagonist that we knew we had to do some of the areas we weren’t good at in Hitman,” they continued.

“We knew we had a new game here, with a new protagonist that we knew we had to do some of the areas we weren’t good at in Hitman.”

007 First Light game director Hakan Abrak

Dveloping an action-focused game required honing different skills, with Abrak highlighting Kane & Lynch and Freedom Fighters as examples where the studio leaned more heavily in that direction. These gameplay improvements may also move forward into other games, such as the promised Hitman 4.

“There’s obviously experience from [Kane & Lynch and Freedom Fighters], but there are certain things where, you know, new blood, new talent to IO from the outside,” Abrak said. “There are things that we’re really, really good at, and there are things where we had to get new expertise that helped develop our engine, our technology, and our game features to deliver above the benchmark for an action game, because Hitman does give you the freedom to go guns blazing.”

He continued: “However, even though we give you that freedom, […] the full experience in Hitman is premeditated; you’re planning, you’re observing, it’s not impulsive, necessarily. It’s very thoughtful with pre-planning that goes into that, understanding the wants and motivations, the patrolling patterns, and where the different opportunities are before you make your move for a perfect execution and getaway. Bond is different.”

007 First Light has caught some flak from fans of the original novels and films due to IO’s claim that the new game’s Bond will follow “modern values”. “He’s evolved through the decades, and obviously, we reflect modern values,” cinematics director Martin Emborg explained. “So it’s not going to be your old school Bond, which would just be tone deaf in this day, right? He’s a modern guy.”

With a recently-delayed release date of May 27, 2026, 007 First Light is quickly approaching for gamers on PC, Xbox Series, PS5, and Nintendo Switch 2.