With 007 First Light, IO Interactive is treading into the world of James Bond to deliver an origin story, one of a younger and brasher agent. However, it also surprised many by revealing Casino Royale’s Le Chiffre, played by Mads Mikkelsen, as a new Elusive Target in Hitman World of Assassination.
This raises some questions about the connection between the games, but senior Hitman level designer Martin Ansdal quashed that in an interview with GamesRadar. He confirmed that First Light is in a “completely original universe” and there are “no plans for crossover.”
“What you saw from First Light, it’s a completely original Bond and a completely original universe. I think they want, really, to design a Bond for video games, and that has to be a distinct and separate universe. So there’s no plans for crossover.”
Ansdal added that Le Chiffre is from the Daniel Craig movie universe and “would not have been able to exist” in any kind of world connected to First Light because “that creates confusion about what universe it is.”
“You can have Mads Mikkelsen as a guest star in the World of Assassination, but it’s important to state that does not imply a larger, shared thing.”
On the bright side, Le Chiffre has allowed the studio to get a little “more ambitious” when it comes to creating an Elusive Target mission. It recently showcased how Agent 47 could be poisoned after accepting a drink from Le Chiffre and, failing to find the antipode in time, waking up in a torture room similar to Craig in Casino Royale.
Of course, there are wackier ways the mission could end. “When I go to work, I don’t try to make ‘content.’ I try to do something special, like something that doesn’t exist in other games. An experience you couldn’t have in any other game. [No] other game will have you dress up as a flamingo and kill Le Chiffre with a banana peel he slips on. You cannot get that anywhere else.”
The Elusive Target is available until July 6th for Hitman World of Assassination players and provides a reward for 007 First Light. The latter launches in 2026 for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, PC, and Nintendo Switch 2.
