You know his identify. Bond, James Bond. But who’s the person behind probably the most notorious three-digit numbers on this planet? That is the query IO Interactive wanted to reply going into the event of 007 First Light, a recreation that tells the origin story of Agent 007. During our journey to IO Interactive’s Copenhagen headquarters for the most recent situation of Game Informer‘s cowl story, we sat down with the crew to learn the way they went about crafting a younger model of James Bond.
007 First Light growth happened throughout an uncommon time for the James Bond movie franchise; it has been practically 14 years for the reason that final James Bond recreation, and there’s at present no live-action James Bond actor, giving IO Interactive the opening to do what they needed to do: craft their very own unique story starring their very own unique Bond. “It’s very important for us to have part of ourselves in the story and in the characters that we create, yet still being very respectful to the source material, to the IP,” recreation director and IO Interactive CEO Hakan Abrak says. “I don’t think we would have necessarily had the same energy and the same vision and the same results if we were to do a gamification of a movie. That freedom of creativity was very important to us, and we are so, so grateful for our partners that we’ve been given that opportunity.”
In adapting a brand new model of the long-lasting superspy, IO Interactive wanted to stroll a wonderful line between creating one thing new and distinct whereas honoring the legacy of probably the most iconic characters in popular culture. “Everyone knows Bond,” narrative and cinematic director Martin Emborg says. “It’s a generational thing by now: 63 years of movies, books from the ’50s… it’s huge. Everyone knows how he takes his drink, everyone knows what he drives, and what he wears. So, it’s really interesting to do an origin story. ‘Who is the character? Who is the man behind all this stuff?'”
But reasonably than drawing inspiration from iconic depictions like these of Connery, Brosnan, or Craig, IO needed to look at the constant attributes throughout all media, not simply the movies. Emborg tells me that as quickly as he discovered IO was making a Bond recreation about six and a half years in the past, he went out and acquired the field units of the flicks, books, and even learn the comics.
“Bond is a character where there’s been versions of him through the decades,” Emborg says. “I think it’s not particularly helpful to look at how other people have interpreted the character. It’s better to look at the DNA and then say, ‘How are we making a contemporary version of this character?’ Obviously, yeah, you look at the movies [and books] – how could you not?”
Through this course of, IO efficiently drilled into what makes him James Bond, no matter age. Then, the tough half: How do you create an inexperienced model of a person whose expertise defines him? IO Interactive tried to seek out what his most defining traits are after which envisioned how these can be expressed by youth. “I think his core traits that he’s born with are he has a lot of wits, he’s a very smart guy, he has guts, obviously,” Emborg says. “All these qualities are changed by the virtue of him being a young man. Wits, in this case, he’s a hungry mind. He’s whip-smart, but he doesn’t have that kind of experience. Yet, in terms of guts, you can definitely say, as a young man, he skews more reckless, whereas with a more seasoned 007, it’s a calculated risk. Yes, he will jump out of an airplane, but this guy does it just because that seems like the next best thing to do to catch the bad guys.”
Another high quality IO Interactive recognized in James Bond is a coldness that permeates lots of his interactions. Though I get a glimpse of how IO’s Bond stays cool and picked up below stress throughout my hands-off demo, he would not but have a full grasp on how he comes throughout. “Our guy isn’t there yet, so I think, if anything, he has more heart in this version than he might have as a seasoned man,” Emborg says. “Charm – the quintessential Bond quality – he has in spades, but it’s not weaponized yet. An older Bond will use that tactically, and I think a younger Bond, maybe isn’t even aware that he’s projecting all this charm.”
To depict this model of Bond, IO Interactive forged Patrick Gibson, who most just lately performed a younger model of Dexter Morgan within the Dexter prequel collection, Original Sin. “He has a great youthful energy to him,” Emborg says. “He has a kind of built-in impatience, which is perfect for the character. Like, ‘Okay, what’s next? What are we doing now?’ But he also has a great gravity that he can tap into. He can get really insanely focused at the drop of a hat, which is really, really impressive. And then he has great comedic timing, and he’s just a lot of fun to be around. I think he checks all the boxes.”
We’ll have to attend and see how properly IO Interactive’s model of James Bond pans out, however in our demo, he felt like a becoming transposition of the well-known Bond attributes to a youthful model of the character. Thankfully, we do not have terribly lengthy to attend, as 007 First Light arrives on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch 2, and PC on May 27. For extra on 007 First Light and our different most anticipated video games of 2026, you’ll want to take a look at our newest situation. If you are a Game Informer subscriber, you’ll be able to learn the complete situation proper right here.
