2026 is finally here, meaning 007 First Light is launching in a matter of months. The official title of the third-person Bond action-adventure was revealed last year, alongside our first 007 First Light preview of Hitman developer IO Interactive's new game at Gamescom 2025.
Set to explore a James Bond origin story featuring the cheeky young Brit as you've never seen him before, we can expect plenty of action, gadgets, and guns as we embody the role of a younger incarnation of the iconic secret agent when 007 First Light launches this May. And while the best Bond movies have brought us various actors over the years who have taken on the role, IO Interactive is set to bring us its own original take on the character.
What is 007 First Light?
007 First Light will be a brand new stealth-action game from the genre masters at IO Interactive – the studio behind the beloved Hitman franchise.
We should keep in mind that "Project 007" was always the working title for this new Bond game. But while the title has now changed, we know that the game's DNA likely won't. The studio has described the upcoming games as, "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." It includes the developer's talents for stealth shown in Hitman, of course, but dials up the action as well to deliver a classic rip-roaring Bond adventure.
007 First Light release date confirmed
007 First Light's release date is set for May 27, 2026, pushed back two months from its initial March 27 goalpost.
When 007 First Light's was first announced, the new adventure originally had the vague 2026 launch window, with the release date news coming in September 2025 to officially confirm we can expect it in March next year - which puts it a few months ahead of one of the biggest upcoming releases, GTA 6.
"This is just the beginning of our journey with 007," Hakan Abrak, CEO & co-owner of IO Interactive confirmed during the original announcement. It fits with what we've seen from the studio before, as the live tail on Hitman 3 and Hitman: World of Assassination was incredibly important for that game. It seems we may see more like this from 007 First Light. The good news is, it won't be long at all until we can earn the numerals for ourselves.
The game was pushed back by two months on December 23, announced via Twitter.
007 First Light platforms
007 First Light looks set to arrive on all major platforms, with confirmation it'll be arriving on PS5, Xbox Series X, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC across both Steam and Epic.
Those with an IOI account will also be able to unlock a bonus outfit and weapon skin too, so consider signing up if you haven't already for Hitman.
007 First Light trailer
The first proper reveal during the PlayStation State of Play June 2025 showcase gives us a nice introduction to 007 First Light's story and its gameplay, but leaves us hungry for more. Beginning with an introduction to James Bond's background as an orphan and how he came to be recruited to the 00 program where he must earn his codename, it then shows him on a globetrotting adventure across numerous locations. Mixing together quiet and loud moments, there's sneaky stealth through guarded locations, and thrilling set pieces.
007 First Light story and setting
IO Interactive's take on James Bond distances itself from the movies in one key way – it's an origin story for the super spy centering on a young Bond.
The story itself sees him earning his stripes, or, well, numbers. Orphaned when his parents save his life in a mountain climbing accident when he was 11, he managed to persevere to survive the climb down. Throughout multiple boarding schools and the Navy he always butted heads with authority, yet his superiors "praised his instincts". Sound familiar?
When something happens in Iceland during his Navy career, it puts him on the radar for MI6, though his superiors there don't know whether they should take a risk on him or not. He's given the chance, however, meaning he'll be on a mission to prove himself as part of the 00 programme. He's a young Bond here, but make no mistake, he's not a child like in those spin-off novels that are actually called 'Young Bond'. He's just a fresh-faced spy ready for some action.
Speaking with GamesRadar+, franchise director Jonathan Lacaille during Summer Game Fest 2025, the team at IOI saw First Light as an opportunity to explore a period of Bond's life that's "not been covered much". Lacaille also added that the decision to focus on the agent in his younger days was also in the hope of making Bond more relatable.
009 is described as a "master manipulator" in the trailer, so the plot may revolve around a rogue agent, perhaps nodding towards the role of 006 in GoldenEye. Other than that, we've seen that Bond will travel to many colorful locations, similar to IO Interactive's Hitman series, and will encounter many similar beats to most Bond movies, including a super villain trap above a bunch of crocodiles.
A PlayStation blog post that came after the June State of Play also confirmed that we'll also be meeting some other iconic characters, including M, Q, and Moneypenny, alongside a new face in Greenway, who's described as being "Bond's mentor" who will teach him the "modus operandi advocated for MI6 agents".
During the 2025 Game Awards, we also got confirmation that Lenny Kravitz is on board to voice the new character, Bawma, who is the largest black-market dealer in the Western Hemisphere. You can see the clip introducing the character below!
In the teaser above, it's pretty clear that Bawma is going to be one of the main villains Bond is going to encounter on his journey. Hopefully, we get some more details on his role in the main story soon. But for now, it's always nice to see that the game is honoring 007's history of charismatic bad guys.
007 First Light gameplay
We've only received a glimpse of 007 First Light gameplay from IO Interactive, via a truly thrilling introductory trailer at the recent PlayStation State of Play. The easy answer to what you'll be doing in 007 First Light from a gameplay perspective is just about anything you can imagine Bond doing in a movie.
This version of James Bond may be young, as the story sees him earning his iconic numerals, but he still has all the spy tricks you've come to know from the movies. There's gunplay, hand-to-hand combat, and gadgets aplenty. Expect oodles of stealth too considering the developers made Hitman after all, with Bond able to sneak through dangerous areas and use some kind of spy scanner, pickpocket guards, and take them out quietly.
He'll also have access to his iconic wristwatch and other gadgets we know and love from the film franchise. We can also expect a lush open world with plenty of stealth sandbox potential as players decide how to execute a given objective. IO has nothing but praise for other Bond games like Goldeneye, but in First Light, it's aiming to stand apart from both past 007 titles and its own Hitman series to deliver something truly unique.
Another sequence in the trailer has him on a cat-and-mouse hunt through a nightclub that visually feels very Hitman 3. And yes, there will be car chases, and at least one cutscenes shows the young Bond dangling above some deadly crocs. Ah, villains. Emphasis is being placed on the options for players to go in loud or quiet as they please.
The studio's CEO, Hakan Abran, says that IO is building "the ultimate spycraft fantasy." It's expected that 007 First Light will build on the incredible work the studio has done around its Hitman: World of Assassination trilogy, with chief development officer Veronique Lallier telling GamesRadar+ that working on James Bond is "so close to our DNA that it just feels seamless".
In an interview with us here at GamesRadar+, Lacaille said the team is "leaning a lot on what IOI does best", but that the studio also had to "come up with a lot of new things that IOI had to learn and to reiterate on to really bring the Bond experience."
Examples of this include driving and fighting with guns, neither of which you really do in the Hitman series (guns are an option, but not what you'd gravitate towards in a stealthy experience). While guns are more of a focus in First Light, it's not all about shooting and driving, with Lacaille adding that "we want to give players a lot of tools to feel as smart as Bond in the game".
We know that IO is drawing in a lot of industry talent to get this new James Bond game off the ground, including a The Division and Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora lead to help "design the most amazing Bond missions." Lallier adds: "If you look at what we've done in the past with Hitman, 007 feels organic. For us because we've done, you know, stories about agents doing things. So that makes complete sense. That just feels like, this is normal and natural, you know, it's part of our DNA to create an amazing story about action."
Which Bond are we playing as in 007 First Light?
No, this young version of James Bond isn't based on an actual actor who has portrayed 007 on screen.
CEO and co-owner of developer IO Interactive, Hakan Abrak, spoke with Danish Broadcasting Corporation about their unique take on the Bond we'll be playing as in 007 First Light. 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."
With our first proper look at this new "digital Bond" in the reveal trailer, Lacaille spoke to us about IOI's take on the iconic agent explaining that, "The Bond that we have today is not tuxedo Bond, the classy Bond with the martini and so on. He's young, he's not the suit guy yet. But Q is more the classy gentleman with a lot of taste, and he will teach Bond what he should wear, manners, you know, why he needs to wear a nice watch and things like that."
In an interview with IGN back in April, Abrak also revealed that 007 First Light 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."
The Hitman studio also confirmed that Dexter actor Patrick Gibson is playing the title role, and while this incarnation of Bond is original and not based on any of the on-screen secret agents, the developers are borrowing from the Daniel Craig era for his physicality.
007 First Light pre-orders
007 First Light pre-orders are now live across PC, Xbox Series X/S, and PS5, both digitally and physically, with physical Switch 2 pre-orders also available at some major retailers.
With three different editions available, all digital pre-orders will grant you 24 hours of Early Access to Bond's upcoming adventure. Alongside the standard editions, there's also two different physical editions, with the Specialist edition giving you four exclusive outfits, one new weapon, and Gleaming Gadget skins.
The premium Legacy edition, on the other hand, will bag you all the aforementioned digital goodies along with a Golden Gun Figurine, an Obsidian Gold Suit and Golden Gun weapon skin, and a steel case.
Here are some of the best action games to loot and shoot your way through while we wait for 007's next outing.
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