James Bond is a pop culture pillar, and now, he’s finally coming back to video games with IO Interactive’s 007 First Light. During a media preview event held in Los Angeles, invited press and content creators got the chance to go hands-on with the upcoming game. For me, the biggest question that 007 First Light had to answer was one of identity.
Known for Hitman, publisher and development studio IO Interactive seemed like a natural choice for an action-adventure, narrative-driven James Bond Game. But the reality is that this is James Bond like we haven’t seen him before. In the studio’s words, we will see him “earn the number.” With Patrick Gibson (Dexter: Original Sin) providing mo-cap, likeness, and voice work to the game, 007 First Light’s take on Bond is the youngest we have ever seen him, even looking back at Ian Fleming’s novels.
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This allows IO to shape the path James Bond will take. But with such a storied legacy, 007 First Light faces an uphill challenge among both fans of its existing games and fans of the franchise it is adapting. We spoke with Theuns Smit, Senior Licensing Producer for IO Interactive, about the history that the studio is stepping into, how they captured Bond’s legacy without being consumed by it, and how IO’s approach to level design impacted their approach to the character in 007 First Light.
IO Interactive understands the weight of legacy.
The central question hovering over 007 First Light has consistently been whether the game would embody the character who has shaped the spycraft genre for generations. But that online debate is an example of the weight IO Interactive is carrying as it aims to meet gamers and James Bond fans alike. But IO Interactive, or at least Theuns Smit, has been well aware of the legacy they are stepping into.
“It’s quite awe-inspiring,” Smit said when asked about the pressure of the IP’s impact. “I feel like there’s a bit of a reverence to the franchise, and it’s just been so incredibly exciting working alongside so many talented and passionate people and bringing [007 First Light] to life? It’s been a fantasy come [true].”
But that awe-inspiring development journey also meant becoming familiar with Bond in all of his forms, iterations, actors, and media. For Smit, when he thinks about what has helped define James Bond for him in relation to 007 First Light, he comes back to the actors who have taken on the 007 mantle.
In cinema, Sean Connery, David Niven, George Lazenby, Timothy Dalton, Roger Moore, Pierce Brosnan, and Daniel Craig have all portrayed James Bond. From the beginning, with Ian Fleming’s novels and each subsequent film, Bond has shifted with the actor and director behind the camera, each defining themselves on screen through camp, intrigue, or sex appeal. Sometimes, all three. But with so many Bonds, what is one more?
007 First Light argues there is room for one more Bond.
Smit explained that learning that each of the actors didn’t seek to be the last Bond but instead chose their own path highlighted the importance of change in the franchise. And for IO, that is what they’re representing with 007 First Light. He said:
“If you’re looking at the, you know, the Bond franchise as a whole, and especially the more known theatrical [versions], there have been so many versions and iterations of [James] Bond, played by various actors. I saw a quick interview once with Timothy Dalton, where he was just speaking about when he first stepped into the role. He was asking the producers if they wanted him to continue in the path that’s already been set, or take a hit and make it real to himself.
I feel like that has been the case with each and every Bond, where there’s an intrinsic identity of Bond. He is this, this hero takes on these larger-than-life situations, acting quick on his feet, improvising, trying to do whatever is best for the mission, but he needs to also [be] shaped by the environment around him.
I’ve seen that translate so well into our own version of [James] Bond as well, played by Patrick Gibson. There are these little ingredients that make Bond, Bond, but then there are these nuances that you can bring out in the character [that let’s you] see a new side of him while still recognizing that [he is] James Bond. That [interview] has shaped the development of this, because we have one of the youngest Bonds so far, and that has really given us a great opportunity to tell a new kind of story in this reimagined origin story.”
When it comes to James Bond’s essential DNA, 007 First Light makes a concerted effort to work those elements into the game’s core mechanics, whether in combat or otherwise. One of the inherent characteristics of the character is Bond’s charisma. It gets 007 into rooms he shouldn’t be in and gets people to drop their guard, too. IO Interactive has captured that through the Bluff mechanic, which allows James Bond to bluff his way out of an interaction.
“At its core, 007 First Light is a third-person story-driven action adventure game”
The Bluff mechanic speaks to the studio’s concerted effort to bring cinematic touchpoints to players in a tangible way. One of the hardest elements of adaptation is balancing the need to honor who the character and IP are with the need to tell a new and interesting story.
With what we’ve seen so far, setting 007 First Light apart from other iterations of the character was easy, and placing Patrick Gibson’s portrayal in conversation with the icon’s cinematic history is an ongoing process across the three areas of the game we explored at the media preview. Additionally, the game builds on the foundations laid in Hit Man 3, not just by using the same proprietary engine, but also in level design.
“At its core, 007 First Light is a third-person story-driven action adventure game. That is a little bit of a departure from what we’ve done previously. The strengths that we’ve drawn from our experience there are that we’ve had over 25 years of this agent fantasy experience, but when it comes to bringing a Bond game to life and ushering in a new chapter of bombastic gaming, it does have a more cinematic focus. It’s more narrative-driven. And you know that has lent itself so nicely to bringing this to life and crafting this kind of experience that we have,” Theuns Smit said.
By focusing on the freedom the different Bond actors were given to define the character for themselves, it’s almost funny how much hand-wringing has gone on over the casting or changes to the character. While I was apprehensive, hearing Smit discuss how the team developed character-driven mechanics continued to make 007 First Light, a game I had no expectations for, into one that stands to offer a thoughtful look at James Bond.
IO Interactive’s Smit continued, “It also allowed us to lean more into the character. In Hitman, he is a more stoic, quiet agent. [James Bond] is the opposite; he’s charming, witty, and he has personality. That is the kind of thing that we lean into gameplay feature-wise, like with the Bluff mechanic. Who else can pull off a move like that if you didn’t have [Bond’s] charisma? That’s such a power move in the moment when you’re playing because not everything has to escalate into combat.”
Confidence, charisma, and combat create fantastic gameplay.
While I didn’t use the Bluff mechanic too much in my playthrough, I did get to experience some of the character’s confidence-laden insults and humor during the media event while we played through the Kinsington mission. And to be honest, it felt good. Bond’s confidence and charisma aren’t the only things that felt good; so did the combat.
During my time with 007 First Light, the creativity inherently built into combat levels was reminiscent of IO Interactive’s past projects. In fact, creative solutions to accomplishing missions have kept Hitman 3 alive as a live-service game since its 2021 release, with new contracts, challenges, and replayability built into the combat systems.
That core game design element that has come to define the studio for players like me (who dug into that game, even ranking the hottest Agent 47 suits). But while it’s an experience for the team that worked on 007 First Light, Theuns Smit was quick to both nod to that past and assert that 007 First Light is very different.
“We’re pretty known for creating these deeply rich and vibrant, varied locations. And we’ve brought that over to First Light as well, because what we call our cradle approach,” Smit responded when asked about the Hitman DNA alive in First Light. “You have to get from here to there, but it’s up to you how you get there. Just from a level design point of view, I love the variety that we are putting into these locations.”
Using the media preview demo as an example, Smit explained that he had also been playing Kensington, the third chapter we played during our session, and that he hadn’t completed it the same way twice.
“The fact that you could play it once, and you could try it again, and discover a whole different way of doing [the mission], I love that. I love that about [007 First Light]. I love that replayability. I love the creativity that you get because the people around you are doing it differently from you, and doing that means that you own it. You have a lot of player agency! I love that we get to put that into your hands, for you to decide how you play, Bond your way. It’s really up to you,” Smit ended.
IO Interactive has the chance to introduce James Bond to a new generation.
Up until this point in the conversation, we focused on the more mechanical elements of the game and IO Interactive’s approach to adaptation. But with such a storied franchise, there is more than just a little bit of emotion in the air when you see people talk about the game.
Roger Moore was my first James Bond, and he’s the one I fell in love with. Then I started watching more Bond movies. It was a family affair, a character that everyone in my family agreed was, well, the greatest of all time. Now, though, we’re 73 years since the creation of the character in 1953, and not every kid grew up with him the way that I did.
With a video game, though, IO Interactive has a chance to introduce new audiences to James Bond and bring in people who don’t play games into the medium. That’s the power of an IP, but it’s also a responsibility that can weigh on a development team. But for Smit, the thought of helping make new 007 fans was exciting.
“I think it is no surprise that there will probably be a large section of our player base that this was going to be their first introduction to Bond, and we’re, of course, a teen-rated game. I think we’re inevitably going to reach new audiences, new players, new people that might not have grown up with [James] Bond,” Smit explained.
Continuing, “And that’s really exciting! What I love about this game that we’ve been putting together is that, as I mentioned before, it’s a third-person story-driven action adventure game, which means that for fans of the franchise, you’re going to be eating good! There are a lot of good tips of the hat, nostalgia, winks and nods, and everything for franchise fans here.”
“But for those who don’t know [the IP], this is an action adventure that you get to go on with this amazingly crafted character that has brought with him so much richness and gravitas and charisma. If this is your first ever introduction to who this is, you’re in for a really enjoyable game, and this might just be the thing that gets you driven to want to know more about the franchise. But that’s my point, that you can be a fan of Bond or new to it. There’s something here for you, and that’s really exciting,” Smit said.
007 First Light brings that old-school 007 cinematic magic.
To close out our time together, I asked Theuns Smit what he learned from working on 007 First Light, a question I ask every developer I speak to. The answer was all about his team and the studio’s approach to development, showcasing to him what it’s like to move forward with intention and passion.
“You know, one of the values that we have at our company is ‘speak true and lead.’ It’s something that’s part of IO Interactive, and that has been really cool to step into. Working at this studio and working on this project, everybody’s voice matters, and everybody’s passion plays a part [in development]. So, when you endeavor a big collaboration like this, that has so much history, that has so much involvement, it just feels great being able to be one of the people who are contributing to this and bringing this forward. There’s a lot of passion poured into [007 First Light],” Smit said.
Speaking with Theuns Smit and watching the other developers at the event talk to each other showcased that love. There were a number of conversations I heard about obscure Q-inspired gadgets, thoughts on the costuming, and a love for the Bond films as a whole. While we have to wait for more on the story, as far as combat, soundtrack, and personality, 007 First Light captures that 007 cinema magic, only you’re a part of it.
007 First Light releases on May 27, 2026, for PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox ROG Ally X, Xbox ROG Ally, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC, and is available for pre-order.
