Just yesterday, we brought news that the developer of the Hitman series, IO Interactive, was teasing a brand new project. At the time, we speculated on what the announcement could be, as the team gave little to no hints. The guessing game is now over though, as the project has been revealed to be a James Bond game.
Who else but the developer of Hitman should create a Bond game? We’ll answer that, no-one. This seems like a great fit for the James Bond franchise, and the IO Interactive team has given us some insight on what exactly Project 007 is. First off, it’s an origin story for Bond as a character, where players will get the chance to see how Bond became a 00 agent.
IO Interactive also says that Project 007 is an original story, meaning it isn’t based off any one film entry. That might give the team a little more creative freedom on where to take the Bond character, although we expect some parameters to be in place. The official Twitter account for James Bond did reiterate these details though, so here’s hoping that IO Interactive can create the Bond game it desires.
The past, and the future
James Bond in video game form has been dormant for some time now. For a while, Activision handled the series, treating each licensed entry with about as much respect as you’d expect. The publisher then lost the rights to publish Bond games in 2013, following the disappointing 007 Legends. Sadly, 007 Legends sunk developer Eurocom with it as well.
With IO Interactive, we should be in a better place. The developer split from Square Enix a few years ago and managed to take the Hitman IP with it. That means that in theory, the team has no bigger publisher to answer to when developing Project 007. The game is early in development, as IO Interactive is still “recruiting elite talent”, but we should hear more details soon enough.
