Hitman developer IO Interactive is working on a James Bond video game. Project 007 will be an original Bond origin story that will allow players to step into the shoes of the legendary spy and earn his double status. The game, which does not yet have an official title or release date, was first announced in 2020. Now the head of IO Interactive has provided an update on the 007 project and said the studio hopes the Bond game could be the start of a trilogy.
Work on the 007 project is going “surprisingly well”
In an interview with IGN, CEO and co-owner of IO Interactive Hakan Abrak said that the development of the 007 project is going “surprisingly well”, but did not provide new details. “I don’t have an update today, but believe me, we’re very excited to talk about it here soon, too,” Abrak told IGN. “So we are carrying out our plans. Production is going surprisingly well and we’ll talk more about it soon. I know it was a little teaser, not a lot of information, but a lot of interesting things came out.”
Akrak said two decades of creating Hitman games where gamers can live out their “agent fantasies” gave IO the experience it needed to create a James Bond game. And while Project 007 is based on a popular IP, IO Interactive is working on a completely original story with a new James Bond, without using the likenesses of any actor who has taken on the mantle of 007 in the past.
“So this is not a gamification of the film. It’s a full start and it’s becoming a story, hopefully a big trilogy in the future,” Abrak said.
“And what is no less important and exciting is the new Bond. This is the Bond we built from the ground up for gamers. It’s incredibly exciting with all the lore and all the history that’s there to work on this with the family to create a young Bond for gamers; a bond that gamers can call their own and grow with.”
A new Bond story
IO Interactive has partnered with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Bond film producer Eon Productions as the developer and publisher of Project 007. Ian Fleming’s iconic British MI6 agent has an illustrious history in the medium, with 1997’s Goldeneye considered one of the most influential games when ever created. Recently, however, Bond has been struggling to maintain his position in video games, despite the continued success of the Eon films. The last James Bond game was Activision’s 007 Legends, a Call of Duty-style first-person shooter released in 2012.
IO, however, is set to usher in a new chapter for martini-drinking spies when it comes to video games. “I don’t want to say too much about it, but I just hope we do something that will define James Bond in gaming for years to come,” Abrak said.
While the Danish developer isn’t yet ready to fully reveal the game and provide details on its release window, Abrak said the studio will share more updates “in due course.”