There have been 13 games with Bond in the lead role since "Goldeneye" took the world by storm in 1997. The Nintendo 64 classic set a new standard for first-person shooters on consoles, and for film games in general, which until then often had a junk status.
It's a big thing to live up to. "Goldeneye" has rightly a very special place in the hearts of many, many players. But our goal is not that we must beat "Goldeneye", or be like it, says Hakan Abrak.
"Very ambitious"
IOI was best known for the "Hitman" series when the studio announced in 2020 that it would revive the Bond series.
They are both about agents, Agent 47 and 007, but the game structure is very different, says Abrak.
Since then, it has been quiet, until the title "007 first light" was revealed in June along with the first trailer. It has so far been shown more than four million times.
The team is proud and tagged and it has given renewed strength to complete the game in the strongest possible way, he says.
Abrak says the studio wanted to try something new, more action-packed and bigger.
It's very ambitious, just the fact that we've never had car driving in the "Hitman" series before. And now there will be a lot of exotic vehicles, he says.
The development has rested on three pillars. One was a redefined Bond, in a standalone story. The second is about large living arenas around the world, perhaps not entirely unlike what players have seen in "Hitman".
It's not just shooting and explosions, but you can play with Bond's charm and his ability to bluff and analyze the surroundings, says Abrak.
The third is about action and the grand scenes that Bond is known for.
Triple job
At the same time as the development of Bond has been ongoing, work on "Hitman" has continued. Recently, extra material was released where the Danish Mads Mikkelsen's Bond villain Le Chiffre from "Casino Royal" appears.
It may alleviate the wait until Bond is released, says Abrak.
"First light" is already playable from start to finish and now it's about polishing and improving, before it's released next year.
I hope that in the end, people will say "what a kick, what a journey, what a Bond experience", he says.
IO Interactive is a Danish game developer that released the assassin game "Hitman: Codename 47" in 2000.
It was the start of the game series that the studio is most closely associated with, although they have also made the third-person shooter "Freedom fighters", "Kane & Lynch" and "Mini ninjas".
In addition to working on "007 first light", IOI is also working on a new game called "Project fantasy".
The studio has around 500 employees in the offices in Copenhagen, Malmö, Istanbul, Brighton and Barcelona.
