The Danish studio has openly stated that they are in it for the long haul with James Bond, and that their goal is not to release a game to make money and then leave it all behind.

Project 007 was announced by IO Interactive in 2020, and we heard at the time that the studio was going for an origin story, so we’ll get to control a young James Bond in the game, which is now in full swing (they have a fantasy project in the works, but the tuxedoed agent’s game will be finished first). We haven’t seen anything like this before, as other Bond games have been tied to the films and actors of the time.

The latest issue of Edge magazine features an in-depth interview with Hakan Abrak and Christian Elverdam, the two co-founders of IO Interactive (IOI). Topics covered include the studio’s first twenty-five years, its future and, of course, Project 007. According to the release, the tone will be much closer to Danial Craig than Roger Moore, which is understandable: a much more scripted experience than the Hitman games. IOI already had problems when they presented their plans to Eon Productions, the production company behind the Bond films…

According to Abrak, Barbara Broccoli (one of the producers of the films) felt that the older Bond games were not up to scratch and were too violent for violence’s sake. According to Elverdam, they wanted to move away from action-oriented shooters, and when they introduced Hitman to Eon (which punishes violent gameplay, except for the train mission at the end of Hitman III… where it doesn’t matter), that helped convince the British company, because IOI handles the agent fantasy in a more sophisticated way.

Abrak confirmed that they have a similar concept to World of Assassination for Bond, so they want to make more games with the agent, and that’s their goal, because that’s what they’ve always talked about. For them, James Bond is not just an easy money opportunity and they have turned down offers from many other IP owners. Except that Bond hasn’t had a new game in 11 years. In 2012, 007 Legends came out, which was essentially a Call of Duty clone based on several films. The best of the franchise is undoubtedly Rare’s masterpiece, GoldenEye 007…

Let’s trust IOI. The (first) game won’t arrive until April 2025 at the earliest.

Source: PCGamer