The developer behind Hitman has announced its upcoming James Bond game will be revealed in the next few days, with all eyes on Summer Game Fest.
James Bond’s history in video games is an abundance of lows lifted by the occasional bright spot, with GoldenEye 007 on the Nintendo 64 (and, argubly, 007: Nightfire) standing tall as the best adaptation so far.
While it’s been a dismal time for 007 in video games since, Hitman developer IO Interactive provided a sliver of hope, when it announced in 2020 that it was working on something called Project 007.
We’ve heard little about the project since, aside from confirmation of a Switch 2 version, but now the studio has revealed the game’s official title.
As noted by the developer on X, Project 007 is titled 007 First Light. A brief synopsis is available on the game’s website, which reads: ‘Featuring a wholly original Bond origin story, players will step into the shoes of the world’s favourite Secret Agent to earn their 00 status.’
Nothing else has been said about the game, but a reveal is planned for ‘this week’.
There are no specifics on when it will be shown, but it’s very likely it will pop up at Summer Game Fest on Friday, June 6. If it doesn’t appear there, the next obvious candidate is the Xbox Games Showcase on Sunday, June 8.
A Nintendo Direct is also rumoured to take place either this week or next, so it’s possible 007 First Light could appear there too. Although if there is a Nintendo Direct this month it’s more likely to be next week.
In an interview from last year, IO Interactive boss Hakan Abrak described the game as having an entirely new James Bond untethered to the movies. ‘It’s completely beginning and becoming a story, hopefully for a big trilogy out there in the future,’ he said.
‘And equally important and exciting, it’s a new Bond. It’s a Bond we built from ground up for gamers. It’s extremely exciting with all the tradition and all the history there is there together to work on this together with the family of creating a young Bond for gamers; a Bond that the gamers can call their own and grow with.’
While the phrase a ‘Bond for gamers’ sounds like nightmare spew from Xbox’s PR department, IO Interactive’s excellent work on the Hitman franchise is enough reason to get excited about what it can cook up with the James Bond IP.
Beyond 007 First Light, there are also rumours Capcom could debut Resident Evil 9 at Summer Game Fest.
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