A fresh look at the legend: IO Interactive reveals details of 007: First Light - a non-canonical Bond that will become its own

We finally got our first look at the long-awaited 007: First Light by IO Interactive, which promises to immerse us in the story of the infamous spy's rise, showing how he "earned" the 007 number. It's not just another Bond game; it's a completely fresh take on the legend, created from scratch.

Here's What We Know

So far, everything we've seen has been cinematic and story-driven, so there are still a lot of questions about how First Light will play and who exactly this new Bond will be.

IGN was able to catch up with IO Interactive CEO Hakan Abrak at an IO Interactive event this weekend and ask him all about Bond. While he didn't say who they've cast as the new Bond (the internet thinks it's Patrick Gibson, but Abrak says they'll "wait a bit" to reveal the cast), he did confirm that 007: First Light is not part of the film canon. It is "an independent, reimagined interpretation".

"I think it was really important to us from the beginning that we could leave our mark on it," Abraham said. "This is the first game we're doing that's not our IP. IO is a creative house that has created five original IPs, and we're working on a sixth IP in Fantasy Project as well. So we have to put something of ourselves into what we do."

"It was such a huge opportunity to take on such a beloved franchise and then the privilege of being able to put our own originality into it. And our approach was that we wanted to reimagine its origin story. We wanted to reimagine the coming-of-age story of this young man with all his quirkiness and his optimism, his wit and his personality. His encounter with these intrigues and espionage, this cruel world where the stronger eats the weaker, and how he copes with it, guided by his inner values."

So now we can't wait to see how the team has reimagined 007.

The game is coming in 2026 for PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and S, and Nintendo Switch 2.

Source: IGN