007 First Light appears to be a strong James Bond game by early accounts, and it also seems to be off to a solid commercial start. Amazon Gaming general manager Jeff Gattis says future sequels will be handled by MGM and, theoretically, Amazon Game Studios, which makes IO Interactive’s long-term role in the franchise less certain.

007 First Light did not arrive from a clean and simple publishing situation. IO Interactive announced its James Bond game years before Amazon acquired the James Bond movie franchise in 2025, so this particular project was never fully under Amazon’s control. In a new interview with Polygon, Amazon Gaming general manager Jeff Gattis said Amazon did not have the full rights to this specific First Light game, which allowed IO Interactive to self-publish it. That opening may not exist again for the sequels, as Gattis said future releases will be handled by MGM and, theoretically, Amazon Game Studios.

That does not automatically remove IO Interactive from Bond’s gaming future, but it does suggest that the current self-publishing arrangement is unlikely to survive unchanged. The Danish studio’s work on the Hitman series made it a natural fit for a modern James Bond game, with its experience in stealth, elegant problem-solving, social spaces, and controlled chaos. If 007 First Light proves to be a real hit, cutting IO out would not be an obvious creative move. From Amazon’s side, though, the business logic is plain enough: James Bond is too valuable for the company to leave outside its own long-term media structure, especially if film, streaming, and games are meant to feed one another.

Gattis framed the issue as part of Amazon’s wider strategy rather than a single-game decision. The company is not thinking only in isolated games, shows, and films, but in connected entertainment properties where Prime Video, games, and owned IP increasingly reinforce one another. “We do see this continued integration of video and movies and videogames, where that line is becoming much more blurry,” Gattis said. “We think that’s a real opportunity for us to create IP that extends – or kind of expands upon – TV shows and movies.” He pointed to the upcoming Tomb Raider show on Prime Video as an example, with the television project designed to sit alongside the games rather than exist apart from them.

The same logic applies even more naturally to James Bond, but the risk is sharper. Amazon Games’ own record remains uneven: after years of trying to establish itself as a major big-budget development force, the company shifted away from that approach in 2025 and began emphasizing projects that better fit what Amazon believes it does best. Steve Boom, Amazon’s vice president of audio, Twitch, and games, said at the time that leadership had spent months evaluating its plans through that lens. Bringing Bond in-house could create tighter coordination with film and streaming plans, but it could also mean losing the specialized design hand IO Interactive brings to the table.

007 First Light is therefore not only Bond’s return to games, but also a transitional moment for the franchise. Amazon now has to decide whether the next mission should be led by an experienced external studio or pulled deeper into its own expanding IP machine. The first option offers creative security, the second offers corporate control, and those two priorities do not always move in the same direction. Bond is back in videogames, but it is no longer clear who will really be holding the weapon next time.

Source: PC Gamer