A young James Bond is a member of the navy but is thrust into the world of espionage and forced to work with British intelligence when a mission goes awry in Iceland. Bond has yet to become the legendary spy he is today - it's a journey that players get to follow, and players decide for themselves whether to hack, sneak, shoot or cheat their way through.
If you ask the critics, few have succeeded as well with a Bond game. Vice writes that "007 First Light" is the best Bond game since "GoldenEye", which was released in the late 1990s.
"Controversial"
This time the game is based on an original story. Mattias Engström at IO's Malmö office describes the task as "controversial" and the biggest challenge.
There are quite a few expectations that you have to live up to. There are both limitations and opportunities. We can't do whatever we want.
But it's been going really well. You've felt it when you're playing - that this is James Bond. I'm very happy with that.
Originality is also what IO CEO Abrak is most proud of. The journey began in London over seven years ago with a meeting with Barbara Broccoli, who owns the film rights.
I'm super proud that we knocked on the door of the family and said: "Hey, we'd like to make a Bond game from scratch, which has never been done before, and we also want to explore a part of James Bond that has never been explored before - how he becomes James Bond," says Abrak.
“Don’t fuck it up”
Broccoli wasn't particularly impressed, according to Danish news magazine Zetland. The last Bond film to hit the market was in 2012 - and it was a flop. But Abrak was eventually approved on a verbal promise to "don't fuck it up".
Abrak believes that the Danes' understanding of dry British humor was crucial.
We've been making "Hitman" for many years. We've also used a lot of gallows humor to balance the seriousness.
"Hitman" is IO Interactive’s most famous game series. After the reviews of "First Light," many are wondering whether it will reach that level - and perhaps become an even bigger success?
We, of course, hope that we will sell a lot of copies so that we not only break even, but that it will enable even bigger projects in the future, says Abrak.
Facts: Bond game "007 First Light"
The Danish studio IO Interactive, with development offices in Malmö and Barcelona, among others, is behind the new Bond game "007 First Light".
It has been released on PlayStation 5, PC and Xbox Series (Switch 2 version later in 2026).
The game reportedly cost 1.3 billion Danish kroner and took seven years to develop.
Parts of the game were developed from the office in Malmö.
On Metacritic, which collects critic ratings, the game has a score of 87 out of 100.
