Project 007: Everything we know about IOs James Bond game

Project 007 is a new James Bond game from Hitman developer IO Interactive. Let’s be honest: it’s a match made in heaven. IO is responsible for some of the best stealth action games in recent memory, and the James Bond franchise has been crying out for a good new game for years now. That’s why we’re looking to Project 007 as the beginning of a new era of stealthy spy games, and why we’re hoping to see more of it at E3 2022.

First revealed back in November 2020, IO says that Project 007 is a working title ahead of a full reveal. In fact, there’s a lot of secrecy around the project, with the developer noting that this upcoming game will feature a new Bond – one we haven’t seen in the films or any associated media. You can read up on everything we know about Project 007 so far below, and we can only hope the new James Bond game appears somewhere in the E3 2022 schedule!

Project 007 is a new James Bond game

Project 007

(Image credit: IO Interactive)

All told, the initial Project 007 announcement is the meat that fills out the skinny bones of what little we know so far of the fledgling James Bond title.

Speaking of a title, it won’t be called Project 007. As per IO’s announcement on its official website (opens in new tab), “Project 007 (working title) is a brand new James Bond video game to be developed and published by IO Interactive”.

It continues: “Featuring a wholly original Bond story, players will step into the shoes of the world’s favorite Secret Agent to earn their 00 status in the very first James Bond origin story.”

Project 007 release date is still a way off

Project 007

(Image credit: IO Interactive)

The Project 007 release date is currently unknown. 

Speaking to sister publication Edge, Mattias Engstrom (game director on Hitman 3), says the end of the World of Assassination Trilogy will have a “live tail, and there’s going to be some cool stuff coming there.” On Project 007, he added, “There are so many excited developers in the studio.”

IO is still hard at work improving Hitman 3, which released in 2021. There’s new content launching regularly, and the long-awaited Freelancer mode has been delayed until later in 2022. That said, it’s likely that IO has another team working through pre-production of Project 007 ahead of a full reveal in 2023. 

Project 007 could be a third-person action game

Project 007

(Image credit: IO Interactive)

As hinted in a job listing posted by IO Interactive, Project 007 might be a third-person action game. The listing was looking for individuals with “experience working with third-person action games” to work on the upcoming Bond game, that will be “wholly original”. Nothing official has been confirmed so far, but it could very well point to us playing as Bond in third-person. 

Project 007 trailer: first teaser trailer 

This is it, the only Project 007 teaser trailer so far – emphasis on the tease. Showcasing a bullet being loaded into a chamber of a gun – could it be Bond’s trademark Walther PPK? – Monty Norman’s iconic Bond theme slowly builds up and eventually soars as we see another Bond mainstay: the gun barrel sequence. Then, a shot is fired and the screen turns red, leaving “Project 007” at its centre.

It doesn’t tell us much, other than it’s officially IO Interactive’s “next project”. No images, and certainly no gameplay. It’s just enough to whet our appetite, but we’re hungry for more.

Project 007 story: Which Bond are we playing as?

No Time to Die

Daniel Craig in No Time to Die (Image credit: Universal)

CEO and co-owner of developer IO Interactive, Hakan Abrak, spoke with Danish Broadcasting Corporation (opens in new tab) about the Bond we’ll be playing as in Project 007. Instead of being based on any of the actors who have played the role through the years, Abrak revealed the team has instead made their own “digital Bond”: “we have been allowed to make our own digital Bond, which will not lean on a Bond actor.” 

In an interview with IGN (opens in new tab) back in April, Abrak also revealed that Project 007 will draw inspiration from the entire Bond franchise to deliver an original story: “Every Bond kind of defines a generation and it’s amazing how they keep reinventing themselves over so many years. So, we’re not only inspired by one movie, or games and whatnot. We’re inspired by the whole thing, and just sucking things into us to make an original Bond, an original story, but that is absolutely true and recognizable in the values there is in Bond.” 

For now, keep the Bollinger on ice. While you wait for Project 007, check out all the other new games for 2021 and beyond to get excited about.

About Fox

Check Also

I beat Baldurs Gate 3s hardest boss with a brilliant strategy and D&Ds most iconic spell

There are an awful lot of spells in D&D, and while Baldur’s Gate 3 features …

Leave a Reply