James Bond is among the most well-known characters in fiction. The long-lasting agent 007 is quickly to return to the realm of video video games, and we had an opportunity to dig a bit of deeper behind the scenes.
At Gamescom 2025, we got the chance to talk to IO Interactive devs engaged on 007 First Mild, which offers with the agent’s doubtful early days. Our speaker was Theuns Smit, the studio’s senior licensing producer. He instructed us in regards to the steps IO needed to take to amass a 007 license, what this upcoming recreation shall be about, and the way IO went about creating it.
Right here’s the complete interview.
Word: The next dialog was partially edited to enhance textual content readability and take away repetition.
So, licensing producer. How tough was it to get the 007 license, particularly throughout its shift from MGM to Amazon?
Theuns Smit (senior licensing producer, IO Interactive): We’ve been engaged on 007 First Mild for a while now. Ever since we introduced it again across the finish of 2020, [when] we had a little bit of a teaser trailer. And that additionally actually helped us to attract in extra expertise for this journey that we needed to inform.
However from the very starting, once we approached MGM, we actually had been in a position to present the 25 years of expertise that IO Interactive has with the agent fantasy realm and stealth motion and all of that. So, from the start, we additionally shared with them what we needed to do with it, a reimagined origin story of James Bond. I feel it was a transparent win for them because the licensors as properly to belief us with this.
And we’ve been collaborating rather well ever since. So, even now that now we have Amazon MGM, there’s a extremely nice partnership there for them, understandably. They get to assessment and, in sure components, additionally [provide] suggestions and approve the issues that we’re including in. However they belief us with our experience. And yeah, it’s a terrific partnership.
How do you truly go about taking all that supply materials that’s offered to you with the books, the films, after which deciding on reimagining and approaching it in your individual manner?
Smit: As you say, there’s a plethora of supply materials. So, many people engaged on the group have additionally been long-time Bond followers. So, wanting on the movies, wanting on the novels, there’s positively lots of inspiration we will draw from that.
However we knew that we needed to inform our personal story and inject our personal into it. We weren’t all in favour of simply doing a retelling or a recreation based mostly on a movie or something like that. So, there are specific parts that we discovered standing out to us and [were] intriguing that we needed to infuse into our model of Bond.
Some eagle-eyed followers on the market noticed our announcement trailer, the scar that we placed on his face. That may be very a lot from the outline Ian Fleming gave in his novels that by no means actually translated into the movies. So, we get to have a little bit of a novel angle there, however there’s a story function behind it as properly. You’ll see as you play the sport.
However it gave us a chance to inform a model of James Bond that you simply maybe haven’t seen earlier than. He’s youthful if you first meet him. He’s not but at MI6. He doesn’t have his 00 standing. He’s actually recent out of the Royal Navy. And the place you discover him within the storyline on the very starting, the 00 program has principally been discontinued for roughly 10 years earlier than getting restarted once more.
And our James Bond finds himself thrown into this world of espionage, and thru this 00 program, which gave us a terrific alternative not solely from a story viewpoint, but in addition gameplay. Since you get to go on this journey with him as he’s discovering his function, aiming to earn his quantity, however in a gameplay sense as properly, you’re getting skilled up alongside him.
So, the gameplay development that he’s going via as a personality, you [go] as a participant as properly, and we discovered that basically artistic.
You talked about the 25 years of historical past you guys have in making the video games within the Agent 47 sequence. Lots of people felt when the announcement first got here out that it was simply going to be a James Bond pores and skin over an Agent 47 recreation, proper? However clearly, you guys aren’t doing that. You’re moving into a route that’s very a lot its personal factor. May you inform us about the way you appeared on the route of this recreation when growing it, to make it possible for it wasn’t simply an Agent 47 recreation with an 007 splash artwork on it?
Smit: For us, in a nutshell, what 007 First Mild is, it’s a third-person, story-driven, action-adventure recreation. That in itself is already a departure from the Hitman video games we’ve made earlier than. So, leaning into that action-adventure fashion signifies that you’d anticipate from Bond not solely a compelling narrative, however this cinematic really feel and method, the place we’re simply elevating every little thing, cranking it as much as 11.
So, there could be right here and there issues [you recognize], in case you’re a Hitman fan. What makes IO Interactive distinctive is our artistic method that we give to gamers. However we’re placing it throughout the realm and setting of James Bond. So, you should have your devices from Q manufacturers.
You’ll discover ways to take care of stealth. However on the similar time, there’s this intrinsic nature of Bond, his Bondiness, so to talk. His attraction, his wit, his guile, that involves play as properly. From our earlier video games, the character there, [is] extra of a chaos agent, extra of a shell with a goal. Bond himself is a fully-fledged character. He’s a younger man seeking his future.
That signifies that ingredient turns into a part of the storytelling as properly. So, his persona will shine via. And that’s actually the place that action-adventure, story-driven aspect comes into play.
Probably the most beloved video video games of all time was GoldenEye on the N64. And clearly, since then, the extent of James Bond video games has been blended at finest. However due to the pedigree of this sequence and this IP, it might be very straightforward simply to observe and simply put one thing on the market. However is there any inspiration, not solely from the books and the video games, that the group has checked out when growing this recreation to attempt to make it a fully-fledged expertise?
Smit: Sure, I imply, the group again dwelling, we’re all players at coronary heart as properly. So, we’re all in favour of making a recreation and an expertise that we ourselves would additionally need to play.
So, if you have a look at the umbrella, the style of story-driven, action-adventure, third-person video games, there’s a plethora of video games on the market that, as players, all of us get to get pleasure from and love. However we’re very a lot centered on setting our personal path and our personal expertise that we need to create for gamers. So, we’re very centered on the stability between what the story wants, what we have to drive the story ahead, and what degree of gameplay we anticipate, the standard bar that we would like.
Sure, there’s the stealth and the espionage and so forth, however when issues maybe escalate a bit, Bond himself, he’s nonetheless an agent of the MI6. There are specific guidelines of engagement he has to observe. So, when the enemy lifts the hazard degree to open fight and firearms, you then get granted, by ear, your license to kill.
And that in itself is a extremely nice recreation loop that we introduce, the place you possibly can meet drive with drive. After which when you’re in it, we actually needed to maintain the momentum driving ahead. So, as you’ll see afterward, Bond must improvise. That’s one in every of his strengths. That’s form of what makes Bond himself. Not solely is he charming and witty and all that, however he’s centered, and he makes use of the surroundings round him.
He makes use of the enemy’s strengths and motions, generally towards them. There’ll be a second the place, in case you’re on an elevated space platform, Bond can seize the enemy and rush ahead and break his fall on them. Then they’re knocked out. Maintain the motion shifting. Kick up their gun. Seize it. Shoot the enemy.
One in every of my private favourite little gameplay options that now we have as properly is, when you’ve grabbed an enemy’s weapon and also you’ve fired all of the bullets out, you don’t simply drop it. It turns into a weapon by itself. Throw that gun on the subsequent enemy. Cost in. Disarm him. Maintain the movement flowing.
We’re actually specializing in that ahead momentum, not solely from a narrative viewpoint, however gameplay as properly.
Is there something within the recreation that you simply really feel shall be a shock to each gamers and James Bond followers that perhaps you haven’t proven off but?
Smit: That’s a terrific query. I feel perhaps not as a lot a shock, however one thing nice that you’d hope to have there, and then you definitely get to have it there, is the extent of immersion. In case you your self are a Bond fan, there are numerous areas that we’re going to take you to.
You’ll anticipate the globe-trotting, not solely from a franchise viewpoint, nevertheless it’s one thing [we have expertise in] as IO Interactive. So that you’ll go to totally different areas. A number of the areas and missions shall be larger, some shall be smaller. However as you noticed in our announcement trailer, MI6, you get to go there. Q Lab, you get to go there. So that is going to be areas and ranges of immersion that you simply haven’t explored earlier than in different video games or maybe even within the movies to this extent.
So I really like the truth that our author group, our degree designers, everyone working collectively has actually put a give attention to bringing that genuine Bond expertise to life. And if you end up maybe not an excellent Bond fan, properly, then there’s the action-adventure story aspect that shall be intriguing for you as properly.
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