
IO Interactive has revealed that MGM Studios had just one outright request regarding 007 First Light—don't turn James Bond into a killing machine. While the guideline placed some limits on the game's direction, the excluded possibilities were not something that the 007 First Light developer was necessarily interested in exploring.
The upcoming James Bond game was originally announced as Project 007 back in 2020. However, it wasn't until June 2025 that IO Interactive treated it to a proper reveal, confirming its official title and sharing a first look at its gameplay and cutscenes. While MGM approved the game's concept before granting IOI the James Bond license, neither party has previously disclosed details about the process.

8 Things Confirmed For IO Interactive's 007 First Light
There's little information about the upcoming James Bond game yet, but here's what we know so far.
PostsIOI Global Marketing Director Jonathan Lacaille has now shed some light on how 007 First Light came to be. In a recent interview with VGC, the executive revealed that MGM was generally fairly open-minded about the possibilities for the next James Bond game, with one exception: "don't make him a killing machine!" Beyond that, Lacaille could not recall any instance of the Amazon-owned studio making any kind of outright creative requests regarding the upcoming title. Since IOI was not aiming to create a shooter or full-fledged action game, the request was presumably easy to accommodate.
Not Every 007 First Light Idea Was Approved
CloseAlthough MGM had little in the way of proactive demands, it still didn't outright accept every idea that IOI had. But even the things that received pushback weren't outright rejections. "It was always more like: 'yeah, but, we could do it this way,'" Lacaille explained. As such, the creative process for 007 First Light has consistently included a lot of productive back-and-forth, with Lacaille calling it "very collaborative."
About two years after IO Interactive obtained the James Bond license, MGM was acquired by Amazon in an $8.5 billion deal. Asked whether the deal had a material impact on 007 First Light, Lacaille said that wasn't the case, saying the everyday interactions between IOI and MGM saw "not much of a change" afterward. The fact that the game was already in a relatively advanced stage of development possibly contributed to this lack of involvement from Amazon, as many things were already set in stone by that point, with Lacaille acknowledging as much.
The finer details of what exactly fans can expect from 007 First Light are still up in the air. Based on what IOI has shared so far, the game will offer an original James Bond origin story, revealing how the famous spy earned his double-o status, and feature a rogue agent (009) as the main antagonist. Gameplay-wise, players can expect a combination of stealth, action, and driving. Players will also be able to revisit story missions with various modifiers, thus guaranteeing a degree of replayability. 007 First Light is targeting a 2026 launch for the PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC, but is currently lacking a more concrete release date.