At first blush, 007: First Light looks like quite the departure for Hitman developer IO Interactive, but apparently it's also not the straightforward, Uncharted-style action game that it appears to be. Fear not, there's still plenty of Hitman DNA in there.
We caught up with IO's 007 franchise director Jonathan Lacaille during Summer Game Fest 2025, and we basically asked him for a vibe check. Is 007: First Light the linear, cinematic action game it looks like in its announcement trailer from this week, or can we expect to see more of the Hitman series' systems-driven design that IO has become known for these days?
"It's neither," he said. "IOI has a pedigree, and that fits really well with the [007] IP, so we are leaning into that, of course. But that would not tell the full story ... we are leaning a lot on what IOI does best."
So, it definitely sounds like IOI diehards won't be left wanting for the studio's signature style, but Lacaille added that, "We had to come up with a lot of new things that IOI had to learn and to reiterate on to really bring the Bond experience."
He mentioned driving as an example of a new gameplay mechanic IOI had to learn, as the Hitman games don't have driving. Shooting guns, likewise, is something you really don't want to do much in Hitman, but naturally in a game like 007: First Light, it's a big part of the experience. Still, Lacaille stressed that "we don't want the game to just go by shooting and shooting and shooting. We want to give the player a lot of tools to feel as smart as Bond in the game."
After a somewhat conspicuously long period of silence, 007: First Light is slated for launch next year on PS5, Xbox Series X, Switch 2, and PC via Steam and the Epic Game Store.
007: First Light devs chose a James Bond origin story to help be "more relatable" to a "younger audience maybe than the Bond franchise is used to"
