James Bond game Project 007 hires The Division and Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora lead to help "design the most amazing Bond missions"

The team behind IO Interactive's ever-mysterious upcoming James Bond game, codenamed Project 007, just got bigger, as it's been confirmed that former Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora and The Division dev Rodrigo Santoro has been hired as the game's missions director.

In a news post shared by IO Interactive, it's been explained that Santoro's role will see him "direct the balancing of story, art, and gameplay to design the most amazing Bond missions," so we'll just have to wait and see how his experience transfers to "the ultimate spycraft fantasy." Most recently, Santoro served as the world director for the open-world adventure Frontiers of Pandora, but before that was a lead level designer for the open worlds of Tom Clancy's The Division and its sequel. He was also a level designer on Ryse: Son of Rome, as well as Crysis 2 and 3.

We’re excited to welcome Rodrigo Santoro as Missions Director on Project 007.Rodrigo's experience, and his enthusiasm for the project made for an instant connection between us. Welcome to the team!Read the full announcement: https://t.co/0IIKcOczIw pic.twitter.com/ewBC0FaWdcApril 10, 2024

"Project 007 got my attention since the day it was announced, and I feel incredibly fortunate to work with the team making the game," Santoro says in a statement. "I was able to see more of the game and there is already something unique about it. Most importantly, every conversation that I have had so far with team members has shown the team is passionate about delivering a memorable and unique experience. Right now, I am looking forward to start working with the team, and together, delivering the best 007 game ever made."

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It's been well over three years since Project 007's announcement, and we still know very little about it. However, we do know it'll feature a "wholly original Bond story," which will be "the very first James Bond origin story." What's more, IO Interactive co-owners Hakan Abrak and Christian Elverdam previously teased that it's "the dream" for the upcoming game to eventually grow like the studio's evolving Hitman series. Elverdam added that they'd "love players to look back on multiple Bond games by IO and go, 'Wow, that was quite a journey!'"

If you're on the lookout for more games to dive into before Project 007 releases, be sure to check out our recommendations for the 25 best action games.

I'm GamesRadar+'s Deputy News Editor, working alongside the rest of the news team to deliver cool gaming stories that we love. After spending more hours than I can count filling The University of Sheffield's student newspaper with Pokemon and indie game content, and picking up a degree in Journalism Studies, I started my career at GAMINGbible where I worked as a journalist for over a year and a half. I then became TechRadar Gaming's news writer, where I sourced stories and wrote about all sorts of intriguing topics. In my spare time, you're sure to find me on my Nintendo Switch or PS5 playing through story-driven RPGs like Xenoblade Chronicles and Persona 5 Royal, nuzlocking old Pokemon games, or going for a Victory Royale in Fortnite.