Hitman developer IO Interactive is now making 007 First Light, the first James Bond game we've had in a long while. Many fans are ecstatic with the pairing of dev and project, and it turns out Hitman's lack of constant shooting is what helped IO land the gig.
"What tilted the table in our favour was the creative approach that you have in Hitman," IO Interactive franchise director Jonathan Lacaille tells VGC. Bond certainly does get creative in his films. My favorite moment is when he kills a goon in a bathtub with a toaster and says "shocking."
"You always have multiple angles to tackle the problem, where you have those big social environments like public spaces where you can interact in different ways, which we felt could be a good starting point if we were to make a Bond experience," Lacaille continues.
"It's not enough – but it's a good starting point. And for the licenser, it would help us prove to them that you can make video games without shooting every five minutes, right? In Hitman, you shoot maybe once per level, or not at all, sometimes. I think that opened the conversation at the very least."
It might seem odd that MGM or Amazon would balk at the thought of Bond shooting people – that's kind of his thing as a double-0, right? License to kill – but studios get very protective of their intellectual property, especially when you're asking them to put it in the hands of gamers.
So, the fact that shooting your way through a Hitman level is the worst way to play means IO is the perfect studio to work on a Bond game that encourages you to keep the body count low.
"Don't make him a killing machine! That was the first thing" that MGM requested of IO, remembers Lacaille.
"Generally they've been very open. They've considered every idea we've had. There weren't many massive 'no's or anything like that. It was always more like, 'Yeah, but, we could do it this way, or…' So it's always been very collaborative, and a lot of good feedback, because they've been working with the franchise for so long as well, so it was great to have them so involved in the project, right? I’m sure it was a fun ride for them as well."
But this opportunity isn't only good for whoever owns James Bond, it's good for IO, too. "We had been doing Hitman for approximately 20 years around that time, and there was a wish from a lot of people in the studio to try something else," says Lacaille.
"Of course, not to leave Hitman aside, because as you've seen, we've continued with a lot of content, so the plan was always to develop something alongside it. And we were thinking of leaning into our strengths, rather than do something completely new, and we are very good at the spy fantasy, it seems."
It's sort of like everything is coming full circle, as "Bond has been an inspiration for Hitman in the early days, I won't hide that," Lacaille admits.
"We had a lot of fans in the studio. So it's kind of a dream come true to be able to work on that IP. There was a pitch being made to MGM at the time, and it was a long shot, because they had not accepted a pitch – and they must have received a lot – for more than ten years at that time. So we thought they would never go back into gaming, but, you know, let's try – we have something different to put on their table."
While we wait to hear more about Bond, check out all the upcoming video games of 2025 we have to look forward to.
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