007 First Light, the Hitman dev's James Bond game, launches 2 months before GTA 6 with the Deluxe Edition as a pre-order bonus

James Bond disguised as a driver in 007 First Light
(Image credit: IO Interactive/PlayStation)

We just got an extended eyeful of 007 First Light gameplay, and developer IO Interactive had one extra surprise at the end of it. We knew the game was launching sometime in 2026, but it's coming a whole lot sooner than you might have expected – in fact, we're getting the James Bond game before GTA 6.

007: First Light launches on March 27, 2026 across PS5, Xbox Series X, Switch 2, and PC. Pre-orders will get you 24 hours of early access, as well as a free upgrade to the Deluxe Edition with a handful of extra skins. (I guess that makes it less of a Deluxe Edition and more of a pre-order bonus that you can pay for later.)

That Deluxe Edition includes four "exclusive outfits," offering Bond a pair of casual looks, a Naval officer uniform, and a skeleton suit channeling that Day of the Dead look from Spectre. There's also a pistol weapon skin, and a "gleaming pack" giving Bond a gold-plated phone, pen, lighter, and, uh, wireless earbuds. Look, I guess a modern 007 has to listen to his tunes somehow. I wonder how he feels about the Beatles?

007 First Light – Gameplay Reveal - YouTube 007 First Light – Gameplay Reveal - YouTube
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The new gameplay footage, which you can see above, certainly suggests that IO is building on the base it created with Hitman, but there are far more robust action mechanics and character interactions than we've seen in Agent 47's missions. IO CEO Hakan Abrak says his goal is to make an all-timer James Bond game, even if the result is "very different" to Hitman, but it seems IO fans will have some familiar systems to play with.

For the Hitman devs, 007: First Light felt like "coming home" because James Bond has been an "inspiration" for so long.

Dustin Bailey
Staff Writer

Dustin Bailey joined the GamesRadar team as a Staff Writer in May 2022, and is currently based in Missouri. He's been covering games (with occasional dalliances in the worlds of anime and pro wrestling) since 2015, first as a freelancer, then as a news writer at PCGamesN for nearly five years. His love for games was sparked somewhere between Metal Gear Solid 2 and Knights of the Old Republic, and these days you can usually find him splitting his entertainment time between retro gaming, the latest big action-adventure title, or a long haul in American Truck Simulator.

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