How The New James Bond Game Will Be Different From The Rest
In November 2020, the developer of recent hit Hitman 3, IO Interactive, announced that it would be leading development on a new James Bond game. IO's upcoming entry into the franchise, currently codenamed Project 007, will be the latest in a long lineage of James Bond games that began with a text adventure first released in 1982. A Danish-language interview with IO Interactive Studio Head Hakan Abrak (translation via The Gamer) recently gave fans more of an idea of what to expect from Project 007, including how it will differ from Bond games of the past.
Many prior Bond games have been based on existing Bond properties, like old-school classic GoldenEye 007, for example, taking its name and some story beats from the film that inspired it. 007 Legends, the most recent Bond game, which was released in 2012, even featured a likeness of Daniel Craig as the player-controlled character. The upcoming Project 007, however, will buck this trend. Abrak described the plot of IO's Bond as entirely original, and thus separate from the existing films starring the super spy.
Likewise, the star of Project 007 will not be a Bond with any resemblance to one of the many performers to embody the character on film. Instead, the game will feature an entirely new James Bond, created for the purposes of IO's entry in the franchise.
While Project 007 will introduce its own unique story and virtual leading man, Abrak went on to explain that he currently envisions these elements spinning off into a trilogy. This is far from a confirmation that IO will continue to make Bond games following its initial outing, but its nevertheless suggests that IO hopes to do so.
The press release announcing IO Interactive's Project 007 game describes its plot as an "origin story" for the character. Abrak also described the game at that time as "the most ambitious game in the history of [IO Interactive]."
Reflecting this ambition, IO Interactive opened a studio in Sweden in 2019, which was the first time the company expanded outside of its primary Copenhagen, Denmark location. Many of the employees of its Swedish studio, Abrak explained, will ultimately work on Project 007 in conjunction with team members in Copenhagen. Furthermore, Abrak estimated that the company's current roster of 200 employees will expand to more than 400 over the course of Project 007's development.
As stated in the interview, Project 007 is expected to be available for both consoles and PC at the time of its release. Further information, like a release window, has yet to be detailed.