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Subscribe from just £3 Takes you closer to the games, movies and TV you love Try a single issue or save on a subscription Issues delivered straight to your door or device From£9.99View Prime Day Deals Donkey Kong Bananza Switch 2 stock Recommended reading Third Person Shooters Hitman dev says 007 First Light isn't "just shooting and shooting and shooting," and spy gadgets will allow for "varied and spread out" approaches to missions in the James Bond game 007: First Light isn't an Uncharted-style action game, but it's not just another Hitman game either: "We are leaning a lot on what IOI does best" 007 First Light leads say James Bond is no Agent 47: "If Hitman is a single-minded killer and basically the bad guy of the game, Bond is the hero" Action Games 007: First Light devs chose a James Bond origin story to help be "more relatable" to a "younger audience maybe than the Bond franchise is used to" IOI says the hero in 007 First Light isn't the "classy Bond with the martini" we know and love, but thankfully Q will teach him "why he needs to wear a nice watch and things like that" Action Games 007 First Light could feature live-service missions in the vein of Hitman, as IO Interactive teases "you could expect that we'll be applying some of our learnings from World of Assassination to Bond" 007 First Light: Everything we know so far about IO Interactive's new Bond game Action Games 007: First Light "Don't make him a killing machine!": Hitman developer IO Interactive got the James Bond gig because its games are more about creativity and stealth than shooting Issy van der Velde 15 July 2025 Just because he has a license to kill doesn't mean he needs to go overboard When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works. (Image credit: IO Interactive) Hitman developer IO Interactive is now making 007 First Light, the first James Bond game we've had in a long while. Many fans are ecstatic with the pairing of dev and project, and it turns out Hitman's lack of constant shooting is what helped IO land the gig. "What tilted the table in our favour was the creative approach that you have in Hitman," IO Interactive franchise director Jonathan Lacaille tells VGC. Bond certainly does get creative in his films. My favorite moment is when he kills a goon in a bathtub with a toaster and says "shocking." "You always have multiple angles to tackle the problem, where you have those big social environments like public spaces where you can interact in different ways, which we felt could be a good starting point if we were to make a Bond experience," Lacaille continues. You may like Hitman dev says 007 First Light isn't "just shooting and shooting and shooting," and spy gadgets will allow for "varied and spread out" approaches to missions in the James Bond game 007: First Light isn't an Uncharted-style action game, but it's not just another Hitman game either: "We are leaning a lot on what IOI does best" 007 First Light leads say James Bond is no Agent 47: "If Hitman is a single-minded killer and basically the bad guy of the game, Bond is the hero" "It's not enough – but it's a good starting point. And for the licenser, it would help us prove to them that you can make video games without shooting every five minutes, right? In Hitman, you shoot maybe once per level, or not at all, sometimes. I think that opened the conversation at the very least." It might seem odd that MGM or Amazon would balk at the thought of Bond shooting people – that's kind of his thing as a double-0, right? License to kill – but studios get very protective of their intellectual property, especially when you're asking them to put it in the hands of gamers. So, the fact that shooting your way through a Hitman level is the worst way to play means IO is the perfect studio to work on a Bond game that encourages you to keep the body count low. "Don't make him a killing machine! That was the first thing" that MGM requested of IO, remembers Lacaille. Sign up to the GamesRadar+ Newsletter Weekly digests, tales from the communities you love, and more Contact me with news and offers from other Future brandsReceive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsorsBy submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. 007 First Light - Announcement Trailer | PS5 Games - YouTube "Generally they've been very open. They've considered every idea we've had. There weren't many massive 'no's or anything like that. It was always more like, 'Yeah, but, we could do it this way, or…' So it's always been very collaborative, and a lot of good feedback, because they've been working with the franchise for so long as well, so it was great to have them so involved in the project, right? I’m sure it was a fun ride for them as well." But this opportunity isn't only good for whoever owns James Bond, it's good for IO, too. "We had been doing Hitman for approximately 20 years around that time, and there was a wish from a lot of people in the studio to try something else," says Lacaille. "Of course, not to leave Hitman aside, because as you've seen, we've continued with a lot of content, so the plan was always to develop something alongside it. And we were thinking of leaning into our strengths, rather than do something completely new, and we are very good at the spy fantasy, it seems." It's sort of like everything is coming full circle, as "Bond has been an inspiration for Hitman in the early days, I won't hide that," Lacaille admits. "We had a lot of fans in the studio. So it's kind of a dream come true to be able to work on that IP. There was a pitch being made to MGM at the time, and it was a long shot, because they had not accepted a pitch – and they must have received a lot – for more than ten years at that time. So we thought they would never go back into gaming, but, you know, let's try – we have something different to put on their table." While we wait to hear more about Bond, check out all the upcoming video games of 2025 we have to look forward to. See more PS5 News Xbox Series X Nintendo Switch 2 PlayStation Issy van der Velde Social Links Navigation Contributor I'm Issy, a freelancer who you'll now occasionally see over here covering news on GamesRadar. I've always had a passion for playing games, but I learned how to write about them while doing my Film and TV degrees at the University of Warwick and contributing to the student paper, The Boar. After university I worked at TheGamer before heading up the news section at Dot Esports. Now you'll find me freelancing for Rolling Stone, NME, Inverse, and many more places. I love all things horror, narrative-driven, and indie, and I mainly play on my PS5. I'm currently clearing my backlog and loving Dishonored 2. You must confirm your public display name before commenting Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name. Hitman dev says 007 First Light isn't "just shooting and shooting and shooting," and spy gadgets will allow for "varied and spread out" approaches to missions in the James Bond game 007: First Light isn't an Uncharted-style action game, but it's not just another Hitman game either: "We are leaning a lot on what IOI does best" 007 First Light leads say James Bond is no Agent 47: "If Hitman is a single-minded killer and basically the bad guy of the game, Bond is the hero" 007: First Light devs chose a James Bond origin story to help be "more relatable" to a "younger audience maybe than the Bond franchise is used to" IOI says the hero in 007 First Light isn't the "classy Bond with the martini" we know and love, but thankfully Q will teach him "why he needs to wear a nice watch and things like that" 007 First Light could feature live-service missions in the vein of Hitman, as IO Interactive teases "you could expect that we'll be applying some of our learnings from World of Assassination to Bond" Latest in Action Games "Boy, that game sucked": Notorious Dead Island 2 delay lasted nearly a decade partly because its original developer ignored "horrific" player feedback, says former Deep Silver lead Ubisoft foresaw the grindy fate of Assassin's Creed Valhalla back in the Odyssey days, wanting a literal "odyssey" but not "a world that was just fatiguing to travel through" Final Fantasy 14's Yoshi-P says his latest game dev crush is The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom, one of the most efficient games he's played all year Ubisoft had a very on-brand problem with Assassin's Creed Odyssey: there weren't many tall buildings in Ancient Greece even though it's a "climbing-frame game" 27 years later, this uncanny "Hero of Law" mod makes The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time the game it was always meant to be: Ace Attorney Rockstar Games may have unintentionally confirmed Red Dead Redemption 2 and GTA 4 re-releases, fans theorize as mysterious new support options are discovered Latest in News DCU boss James Gunn says Batman and Wonder Woman won't start production until they have good scripts because they "deserve the best" I called it, Nintendo confirms Donkey Kong Bananza was actually the inspiration for the Super Mario Bros. 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