IO Interactive’s upcoming 007 First Light might be the developer’s most ambitious project yet. Following the studio’s massive Hitman World of Assassination trilogy, the upcoming James Bond game is a bombastic, cinematic affair that melds Hitman’s stealth with the quality of Naughty Dog’s Uncharted.
The Hitman developer’s upcoming game—which launches on March 27, 2026—is the first official James Bond video game since 2012’s abysmal 007 Legends. But how IO Interactive actually get their hands on the prestige film franchise IP?
Speaking to IGN, IOI CEO and First Light game director Hakan Abrak explained that the team won the license by literally stitching the face of James Bond actor Daniel Craig onto the body of Agent 47. With this Face/Off’d body, they showed off the existing Hitman Sapienza level and impressed everyone.
“We actually did put Daniel Craig in there. We just modelled his head and put it in instead of Agent 47, just for demo purposes, giving an impression of what these living, breathing spaces mean in an IO game,” they explained. “And if you are acquainted with the franchise, there is a level called Sapienza with the virus in the caves underneath the compound. So we showed some things off there and, yeah, it was well received.”
Abrak explained that this body was obviously “just for demo purposes”, but it helped them show the “360 experience” that the team wanted to create for 007 First Light. Similar to Hitman games, James Bond can blend into environments and overcome challenges in a number of different ways.
“It’s not necessarily about only shooting and cut scenes — there’s certainly that in our game as well — but it’s also being able to explore the part of the Bond fantasy where he is in social spaces where he is using not only his fisticuffs, but also his charms and bluff and figuring out different ways in those social spaces to overcome the obstacles or get what he wants. How would a charming Bond fare in a situation like this where he doesn’t have to necessarily resort to violence?”” the game director explained.
As for why Craig’s James Bond isn’t the actual Bond we play as in 007 First Light, instead we’re a brand-new, game-only form of the character, Abrak explained that its became they didn’t want to spend their time “pushing the pixels on Pierce Brosnan, for example”. Instead, they wanted to make something that they could put their “creative fingerprints on”.
As the first James Bond game in 13 years, 007 First Light is looking very promising, especially following the game’s recent 35-minute gameplay showcase. When the game releases next March, it’ll be playable on Xbox Series, PS5, Nintendo Switch 2, and, of course, PC.
