‘Hitman’ Developer Is Making ‘Project 007,’ A James Bond Origin Story

Project 007

IOI

Well, when IO Interactive said they were announcing a new game today, guesses ranged from yet another Hitman variant to a new Kane and Lynch title. Instead, everyone got a surprise when it was announced that IOI’s next project would be Project 007, which is a James Bond origin story about him earning his 00 Agent status, a tale not told in books or movies and is wholly original for the game.

They released a short teaser for the game this morning which is…effectively nothing, just your traditional Bond imagery and music:

No gameplay yet, and no timetable about when this will arrive. Just that the game is currently in “active development.” No platforms for it have been announced for it yet either, even if the obvious assumptions may be PS5, Xbox Series X/S and PC.

“It’s true that once in a while, the stars do align in our industry,” said Hakan Abrak, CEO of IO Interactive, “Creating an original Bond game is a monumental undertaking and I truly believe that IO Interactive, working closely with our creative partners at EON and MGM, can deliver something extremely special for our players and communities. Our passionate team is excited to unleash their creativity into the iconic James Bond universe and craft the most ambitious game in the history of our studio.”

So, the idea everyone has is that IOI will incorporate a fair bit of what has made Hitman so iconic in recent iterations, and this will probably not be a Goldeneye-style shooter with little tactics involved. Not that Bond is going to start donning disguises or anything, but I would be shocked if this title wasn’t heavily stealth based, though perhaps a bit less than Hitman, as it’s not really Bond without epic action sequences too.

Over in theaters, James Bond’s newest adventure, No Time to Die, has been pushed back by the pandemic until April, though if that current date holds, it’s anyone’s guess. As for how far along IOI is with the Bond project, we really have no idea, but if we saw it any time before 2022 I would be amazed. And whenever a date is announced, this is the video game industry, and you’ll have to allow for probably at least a 3-9 month series of delays after that.

I am legitimately excited about the prospect of an IOI Bond game, and am hard pressed to think of another developer better suited for the project. We’ll see what Project 007 looks like later, though probably not for a good long while now.

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