007 First Light will tell James Bond's origin story and finally put a new face on the iconic character

Today, IO Interactive, the studio known for the Hitman series, has finally announced the title of their upcoming James Bond game, 007 First Light, previously known simply as Project 007. We still know very little about this game. There have only been a few teaser trailers so far, and we have yet to see any gameplay. However, this game did make a surprise appearance during the Nintendo Switch 2 Direct last month. Alongside today’s name reveal, IO Interactive shared a new teaser image and promised more to come this weekend during Summer Game Fest.

IO Interactive’s James Bond game has a title: 007 First Light

Both IO Interactive and the Project 007 social media accounts shared the news. On the Project 007 page, now the 007 First Light page, the announcement uses the hashtag “#EarnTheNumber,” which confirms that this new game from the Hitman developers will be an origin story for James Bond, where the iconic character becomes the agent we all know as 007. The title “First Light” seems to add to this energy as well. Hopefully, this doesn’t take away from the gameplay, though.

The idea of playing James Bond’s origin story is exciting. It’s not something that has been explored in films or video games, to my knowledge. However, what makes the concept of IO Interactive working on a James Bond game so interesting is how they can adapt the mechanics from Hitman to provide players with creative options for handling missions and objectives. If James Bond is somewhat inexperienced in this game, I hope it doesn’t detract from the player’s ability to have fun and get creative, use gadgets, and pull off incredible moments. But if anyone can pull this off, it is IO Interactive.

IO Interactive also shared an announcement that on June 6th, the same day as the Summer Game Fest showcase, the studio will host the first-ever IOI Showcase at 6:00 PM PDT. In the image shared alongside the announcement, 007 First Light appears alongside Hitman: World of Assassination and MindsEye, a project published by IO Interactive and developed by Build A Rocket Boy, and is planned for release on June 10th. For fans of this studio, there should be a lot of exciting news and announcements to look forward to.

IO Interactive finds itself in a fascinating position with this project. The last James Bond film, Daniel Craig’s final performance as the character, was No Time To Die in 2021. So far, they have not announced another film or who will next portray the iconic character. If IO Interactive reveals their casting choice this week, it will provide an answer to the fans who have been wondering who it could be for years. Of course, chances are it won’t be the same actor for the eventual movies, but it will still be interesting to see who it is and how fans react.

007: First Light

March 27, 2026

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• Overview

• Hitman (franchise)
• Agent 007 / James Bond (franchise)
• IO Interactive