Summary
007 First Lightwill lack any kind of multiplayer, one of the defining features of some of the bestJames Bondgames ever made. The omission reflects IO Interactive’s expertise and design sensibilities, both of which contributed to007 First Lightbeing a single-player-only experience.
IO Interactive first announced itsJames Bondgamein late 2020, referring to it asProject 007. Nearly five years later, the Danish developer officially unveiled the title as007 First Lightduring the June 2025 edition of Summer Game Fest.
As the SGF 2025 announcement trailer premiered, the game’s listings went live across all major digital storefronts, confirming what IO Interactive had previously hinted:007 First Lightwill be a single-player-only experience. The absence of multiplayer marks a notable departure for theJames Bondvideo game franchise, as many of its highest-rated entries feature it in some shape or form.
IOI Sees 007 First Light As a History-Making Opportunity
Speaking toGame File’s Stephen Totillo, IOI Global Marketing Director Jonathan Lacaille characterized007 First Lightas “a huge opportunity to actually make history” by producing aJames Bondgame after so many years. He cited that ambition as part of his motivation to join IOI from Ubisoft subsidiary Massive Entertainment, where he worked until early 2021. For reference, the most recentJames Bondvideo gamewas007 Legends, a 2012 first-person shooter that was widely panned by critics and marked the final project of British developer Eurocom before it entered administration.
Going further back, theJames Bondvideo game franchise yielded multiple classics, includingGoldenEye(1997),Everything Or Nothing(2003), andThe World Is Not Enough(2000). Although all of those titles largely owe their cult followings to their chaotic and infinitely replayable split-screen modes, multiplayer isn’t what IO Interactive is known for, with its latest (internally developed) game that featured it being the 2010Kane and Lynch 2: Dog Days.007 First Lightwill instead aim to tap into the studio’s single-player expertise. “We like to work on something else and [so] people will remember this game, not just that one back then,” Lacaille told Game File.
007 First Light Features the Youngest James Bond Yet
The newly premiered Summer Game Fest trailer confirmed that IOI’s big-budget project is presently targeting a 2026 release. The developer is stillkeeping the identity of007 First Light’s James Bond actor a secret, with Lacaille stating that IOI “wants people to care about the game first.“007 First Lightwill feature the youngest James Bond to date—a 26-year-old who has not yet earned his license to kill. He’s still expected to rack up quite a body count over the course of the game, which Lacaille says takes place in “kind of a modern day,” albeit with no specific year spelled out, as per his Game File interview.
