Project 007: Everything we know about IO Interactive's new Bond game
Project 007 is still shrouded in mystery. The upcoming James Bond action game is being developed by the studio behind some of the best stealth games of all time, as Hitman 3 creator IO swaps out Agent 47 for one of the most legendary spies on Her Majesty's Secret Service.
Whenever we get Project 007 will make it the first new Bond game to grace our consoles in years. Promising a brand new experience with a fresh-faced Bond, what we do know is that Project will be an "origin story" that won't base its interpretation of the legendary spy on any of his cinematic counterparts. It also has the full backing of MGM Studios; "gameplay is king," MGM says of its desire to create a top-tier game "with or without the IP." In short: they want to make a rollicking good action game whose reputation doesn't rely on its high-profile star alone.
With information being so light on the ground, we don't expect it to launch this year as one of the myriad new games for 2024. Still, that doesn't mean we've got nothing for you at all. Here's everything you need to know about Project 007 right now, from where it stands in production to how it came to fruition.
Project 007 news
Upcoming James Bond game Project 007 is being described as "the ultimate spycraft fantasy"
Project 007 dev wants its James Bond game to be an ongoing world, like its Hitman trilogy
Project 007 is a new James Bond game
The initial Project 007 announcement is the meat that pads out the skinny bones of what little we know so far of the fledgling James Bond title.
Speaking of a title, it won’t be called Project 007. As per IO’s announcement on its official website, "Project 007 (working title) is a brand new James Bond video game to be developed and published by IO Interactive."
It continues: "Featuring a wholly original Bond story, players will step into the shoes of the world's favorite Secret Agent to earn their 00 status in the very first James Bond origin story."
IO co-owner Christian Elverdam (via Eurogamer) fleshed this out in more detail. "First of all, it's extremely awe-inspiring and literally just inspiring to work with the team at Eon [Productions], the people who are behind everything Bond."
He expressed gratitude in how the studio trusts IO to "build a James Bond for the games [audience], which I think is a profound homage to where our industry is and where the medium is, in the sense that yes, it's time to have a James Bond character who was not a movie character but who's comfortably just his own game character."
Project 007 release date is still a way off
The Project 007 release date is currently unknown, but we could be waiting a while. Developer IO Interactive cited "long production phases" on its upcoming games in a recent annual report, which has led many to speculate that Project 007 could be at least three years away.
Speaking to GamesRadar+'s sister publication Edge Magazine, Mattias Engstrom (game director on Hitman 3), says the end of the World of Assassination Trilogy will have a "live tail, and there's going to be some cool stuff coming there." On Project 007, he added, "There are so many excited developers in the studio."
Project 007 trailer
All we have to go on right now is the Project 007 teaser trailer, with an emphasis on the tease. Showcasing a bullet being loaded into a chamber of a gun – could it be Bond’s trademark Walther PPK? – Monty Norman’s iconic Bond theme slowly builds up and eventually soars as we see another Bond mainstay: the gun barrel sequence. Then, a shot is fired and the screen turns red, leaving “Project 007” at its centre.
It doesn’t tell us much, other than it’s officially IO Interactive’s “next project”. From, it we can see no images and certainly no gameplay content. It’s just enough to whet our appetite, but we’re hungry for more.
Project 007 could be a third-person action game
As hinted in a job listing posted by IO Interactive, Project 007 might be a third-person action game. The listing was looking for individuals with "experience working with third-person action games" to work on the upcoming Bond game, that will be "wholly original."
Nothing official has been confirmed so far, but it could very well point to us playing as Bond in third-person – a natural fit, given the studio's history with Hitman.
Project 007 story: Which Bond are we playing as?
CEO and co-owner of developer IO Interactive, Hakan Abrak, spoke with Danish Broadcasting Corporation about the Bond we'll be playing as in Project 007. Instead of being based on any of the actors who have played the role through the years, Abrak revealed the team has instead made their own "digital Bond": "we have been allowed to make our own digital Bond, which will not lean on a Bond actor."
In an interview with IGN back in April, Abrak also revealed that Project 007 will draw inspiration from the entire Bond franchise to deliver an original story: "Every Bond kind of defines a generation and it's amazing how they keep reinventing themselves over so many years. So, we're not only inspired by one movie, or games and whatnot. We're inspired by the whole thing, and just sucking things into us to make an original Bond, an original story, but that is absolutely true and recognizable in the values there is in Bond."
Here are some of the best action games to loot and shoot your way through in the meantime.
