007 First Light ​dev reveals biggest challenge of latest James Bond game's development

Long before IO Interactive even started work on developing a new James Bond game, fans had been calling for the studio to do so because they thought the design and gameplay of Hitman would translate perfectly into a Bond title.

Hitman allows players to take a bloody and violent approach as Agent 47 to eliminate targets if they want - but players also have the freedom to use stealth techniques to stay hidden at all times if they'd prefer. Or even a mix of the two.

IO Interactive CEO Hakan Abrak has reportedly previously said the studio created a demo where it put the head of Daniel Craig, the most recent movie Bond, on Agent 47 and put him in Hitman: World of Assassination.

It's understood this helped IO Interactive secure the rights to make the next Bond game.

Speaking to Indy100, 007 First Light art director Rasmus Poulsen said: "It feels like we have been preparing for this, from a studio point of view in terms of mechanics and game making and me personally from an aesthetic point of view having been in and out of the Hitman franchise a few times.

"Being inspired by Bond, it feels like this is where we belong on the one hand but on the other, it's immensely grand, daunting, scary, exciting, all these different things. Most of all there's a big sense of pride of stewarding Bond back into games, not to drown in the responsibility but to have fun with why it's exciting."

Patrick Gibson plays James Bond in 007 First Light / IO Interactive, Amazon MGM Studios

Poulsen added the studio has been working hard to ensure it was creating something much more than a reskinned Hitman game and that this actually turned into the biggest challenge for IO Interactive in terms of development.

"When we read people on the internet saying we should do a Bond game, we were laughing and saying 'sure, absolutely' and it became real - but while it's easy to conceptualise why that may be a good idea, when you dive in and realise the differences in story, mechanics and missions, the differences in making a chaotic anti-hero who can do anything at any given time without repercussions to then doing a hero that operates by the rules, and has a character on top of that which sets expectations, that is not the same game," he said.

"Lots of the same mechanics, lots of the same world building, lots of the same aesthetics in many respects however the core of the game, the flow of the game, across story and mechanics, there's a big, big difference.

"Getting that to click into place has been challenging, even to the point where we realised how biased we had been to development and assumptions based on Hitman that were not necessarily going to give us the results we wanted with Bond, so lots of learnings there.

"It's been a journey that's for sure."

007 First Light is out on PS5, Xbox Series X/S and PC on 27 May with a Nintendo Switch 2 release planned for later in the Summer.

Elsewhere from Indy100:

• 007 First Light theme song by Lana Del Rey released - and it's classic James Bond
• 007 First Light is 'insane magnum opus' - and it's finished, reveals studio boss

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