IO Interactive has made a name for itself with the Hitman series but is moving on from the franchise for now… but not that far beyond. While the Hitman games weren’t exactly James Bond-inspired, it isn’t that big a leap from one franchise to the other and that’s why everyone was really excited when it was announced in late 2020 that IOI would be developing a new James Bond game, referred to as Project 007. Then we heard nothing aside from some hiring news. It seemed the game was for internal eyes only as development trucked along.
Now, however, we’ve at least got a tiny update on the game, with Gamereactor getting a chance to talk to core engine programmer Álvaro Fernández and senior technical executive producer Cris Vega. While the two were on hand to discuss IOI’s more technical side, Vega did drop a few hints about the upcoming Bond game, saying, “007 is under development, it’s looking very cool. It’s going to tell the story of the first Bond and how it (sic) becomes the secret agent that he is, but that’s what we can comment on.”
Now, the wording “the first Bond” may raise some hackles within the James Bond community as there’s been relentless discussion of the film franchise turning Bond not into a single man but the mantle of the best double O agent. That, however, doesn’t actually seem to be the case here. Rather, English isn’t Vega’s first language and I think she just misspoke, meaning instead to imply that we’ll be taking on the role of a young Bond in his first case, much like Casino Royale did.
IOI’s stab at the franchise will finally bring James Bond back to gaming after a long hiatus that saw EA and Activision both give up on the spy who helped create the action genre. Both companies were rather hit or miss with their Bond games and nothing will ever live up to GoldenEye, but IOI may have a shot to come close.
