While it has been no secret that the upcoming 007: First Light will be an origin story for protagonist James Bond and how he gets his 00 codename and designation, creative director Hakan Abrak has spoken about why IO Interactive went with this kind of story. In an interview with Edge Magazine (via GamesRadar), Abrak spoke about not wanting to explore a character that was already established. This means that the studio “would never have done a game adaptation of a movie.”
In the interview, Abrak said that this was because “we weren’t interested in pushing pixels on, for example, how good we could make Pierce Brosnan look.” He goes on to state that while he doesn’t mean offence to developers that have previously worked on classic James Bond titles like GoldenEye or James Bond 007 Nightfire, it is more important for IO Interactive to put its own mark on the story and creation process of the game.
Martin Emborg – cinematic and narrative director on 007: First Light – also spoke about this, noting that there are a few surface-level aspects of the James Bond character that might start feeling shallow.
“Everyone knows how Bond takes his drink, how he dresses, what he drives,” he said. “That stuff gets shallow very quickly. If you want to tell a story and bring the audience along emotionally, that’s just not going to cut it.” Rather, Emborg noted that the studio wants to instead work on “an original story with a character who happens to become James Bond, rather than fulfilling some checklist of callbacks or whatever.”
The fact that James Bond is a pre-existing character with plenty of stories already written and made about him through books and movies, noted Emborg, makes IO Interactive’s job in coming up with a deeper look at the character easier. He said that, “because we have this body of work – all these interpretations that change with the actor – that invites you to find your own take.”
Tying into this is the fact that 007: First Light will feature an entirely new actor taking on the role of James Bond. Rather than basing the character off previous incarnations as played by, for example, Sean Connery, Pierce Brosnan or Daniel Craig, the game will instead offer a fresh take on the character as portrayed by Patrik Gibson of Dexter: Original Sin fame.
Just last month, IO Interactive had released a new trailer for 007: First Light, revealing the character of Dr. Selina Tan, who will be played by Gemma Chan, who in turn is known for her work in Marvel’s Eternal and Crazy Rich Asians among many other works. While she has previously played characters in games, like Diablo 4 Season 2 character Erys, 007: First Light will be the first time that Chan has also offered her likeness to a character.
007: First Light is being developed for PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S and Nintendo Switch 2, and will be coming out on March 27, 2026. For more details, check out the studio’s thoughts on Bond’s many gadgets.
