More than 70 years after the character first appeared in the novel Casino Royale, James Bond is being reinvented yet again. The latest news comes from IO Interactive, maker of the Hitman games, which announced the title of its upcoming Bond game: 007 First Light, which will be shown off later this week.
It's been an interesting year for Bond, with longtime producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson handing creative control over to Amazon MGM Studios in February, and the studio hiring Amy Pascal and David Heyman as their effective replacements. And almost 30 years after the iconic GoldenEye 007 blended espionage elements into first-person shooter gameplay on the N64, we're getting a glimpse of the next incarnation of Bond video games, from a studio that has lots of experience with stealth and subterfuge.
#EarnTheNumber in 007 First Light, a new game by @iointeractive. Mission brief is headed your way soon. Stay tuned for more information.#007FirstLight pic.twitter.com/Zk46IqHQfb
— 007 First Light (@007GameIOI) June 2, 2025
The website for First Light describes it as “a wholly original Bond origin story” that will be about Bond earning his 00 status.
In Bond lore, agents are only granted 00 status after killing one (sometimes multiple) people as part of an assignment. But guessing that James Bond will have to shoot someone in an upcoming 007 game isn't exactly the boldest prediction. So, what should we expect Bond to be up to in this game?
I own all of the Ian Fleming 007 novels and most of the movies and have seen every official Eon-produced Bond film. Based on that extensive experience and (moreso) the willingness to blindly gaze into a crystal ball, here's what I think we might see in First Light.
Searching for a missing 007
After decades of books and movies following myriad incarnations of James Bond, a lot has already been explored, but one thing the movies haven't really touched is what happened to the previous 007. That point comes up in the plot of an Anthony Horowitz Bond novel, but is otherwise fresh territory for a game portraying Bond's origins. James inheriting the 007 designation after investigating the disappearance of his predecessor could add new layers of meaning and weight to the title.
Discovering Spectre
Spectre, the Special Executive for Counter-intelligence, Terrorism, Revenge and Extortion, became a recurring antagonist in Fleming's later novels and a frequent presence in Connery films. The organization is basically a melting pot of criminal organizations from around the world, allowing for conveniently apolitical villainous agendas. Bond unraveling the threads that lead to MI6's first encounter with Spectre would be a fun way to nod to the character's history while still treading new ground.
Uncovering MI6 corruption
Bond himself is prone to going rogue, usually because he of course knows better than the official orders handed to him, so another possible angle is sending him to investigate possible traitorous activity inside his own organization. This could play nicely with the “earning 00 status” element, presenting Bond with situations where he's tasked with taking out former agents gone bad.
IO Interactive has said that this will be an original incarnation of Bond, so no Connery, Craig or Dalton look-alike. The title teaser shows us a silhouette of the character, but we should get our first proper look at the character in a few days.
