Now that IO Interactive has showcased quite a few details about its upcoming title 007 First Light, the studio has also clarified that the upcoming title won’t simply be a reskin of its Hitman games. In an interview with GamesRadar, senior licensing producer at IO Interactive, Theuns Smit, spoke about how the title will instead tap into the studio’s experience with Hitman to create a brand new experience that’s more suited to James Bond.
Smit also spoke about the talent that has been working on 007 First Light, and how the studio has grown since the game was originally announced. He referred to the development of the upcoming James Bond title as a “really big growth moment” for IO Interactive as a whole.
“We have a very talented team back home, and our team has expanded ever since we first announced the game,” said Smit. “Obviously, that meant there was even more interest. We were able to bring in amazing fresh talent to bolster what we already have at the studio, and that has been a really big growth moment for us as a studio.”
Smit credited the new developers that IO Interactive had hired for the development of 007 First Light with differentiating the upcoming title from Hitman, noting that they offered “fresh eyes, fresh expertise, all of that.” These new developers were able to help design a brand new game “while still leaning [into] our strengths, [with] the pedigree of 25 years behind us. It comes about the game first. The experience first. If you’re looking at Hitman, it’s the way it is for a particular reason, because that’s the gameplay experience we want to give. For Bond, it’s not exactly that. It’s not a reskin of that.”
Art director Rasmus Poulsen also spoke about some of the challenges behind developing 007 First Light, especially when it comes to brand new game mechanics for the studio like having vehicles that can be controlled by the player; something Hitman games don’t have. “It was absolutely a huge challenge, and also a challenge we didn’t take on lightly,” explained Poulsen. “We had to bring onto the team specific driving expertise, i.e. people that had experience coding, setting up, tweaking, balancing.”
“Because of course it’s a balancing act of making a vehicle feel both exciting, credible, and dangerous at the same time as being approachable and fun for a wide audience. So absolutely, that balance is very difficult and indeed a new adventure for us, so something we took very seriously. And I’m pleased to say, I feel [we] have landed in an amazing space.”
007 First Light is slated for release on PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S on March 27, 2026. The title was showcased during a State of Play presentation earlier this week, with quite a few new details being revealed. Among the things shown off were the stealth gameplay, a high-speed car chase, an explosive plane boarding, melee combat, bluffing, and even some of the gadgets that players will have access to as they take on the role of James Bond.
