007 First Light, IO Interactive’s foray into the world of James Bond, has been delayed a little bit. Instead of launching on March 27 as planned, the studio has decided to give it a couple more months of work, and will release it on May 27 instead.
“007 First Light is our most ambitious project to date, and the team has been fully focused on delivering an unforgettable James Bond experience, bringing together breathtaking action, globe-trotting, spycraft, gadgets, car chases, and more,” IO wrote in a message shared on X. “As an independent developer and publisher, this decision allows us to ensure the experience meets the level of quality you players deserve on day one.”
(Image credit: IO Interactive)
IO said the 007 First Light “is fully playable from beginning to end,” so the additional time is all about polishing the game to ensure its “long-term success.” And it’s understandable that the studio would want to be extra-cautious about this one, because it represents a real creative risk: Bond is extremely familiar as a pop culture icon and that could potentially work against it because IO’s take is almost a reboot, casting him as a “young, resourceful and sometimes reckless recruit in MI6’s training program” who’s given a shot at the famed Double-O program after a particularly impressive act of heroism.
IO Interactive’s Hitman heritage is easy to spot, but there’s also far more straight-up action than you’ll get from the adventures of Agent 47: Gunfights, fistsfights, explosions, and—of course—gadgets. How it will all come together as a Bond game remains to be seen, but we do at least have our first Bond-esque villain, and it’s Lenny Kravitz (and his abs): He’s not exactly Donald Pleasance, but I do dig the drip.
Anyway, instead of being three months away, 007 First Light is now five months away—not a huge extra wait, but hopefully enough to ensure it’s all Goldfinger and no Moonraker when it launches. (I said what I said, and I will not be taking questions.) IO said further updates on 007 First Light will be shared early in 2026.
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I’m keeping my hopes low for this, but it would be nice to have a James Bond game that’s not another shooter. I feel like there’s never enough espionage and too much action.
The movies I enjoy are usually 75% plot/dialogue, 25% action.
It seems many of the games just look at the action as a quick shortcut to gameplay and ignore writing almost entirely.