IO Interactive boss Hakan Abrak has shared some fresh details about Project 007, the shadowy new project from the developers of Hitman that will feature a "James Bond origin story," saying that production is going "amazingly well" and that the studio will have more details to share soon.
Speaking with IGN in a wide-ranging interview as part of today's MindsEye publishing deal, Abrak said that Project 007 is being fully developed, published, and funded by IO Interactive, and that there's "a lot of cool stuff coming up."
"We absolutely feel like 20 plus years of training for the agent fantasy, creating an agent that travels the world and globetrotting whatnot, has given us some know-how on that. But obviously James Bond is a different IP. It's a huge IP. It's not our IP. It's actually the first IP that is not our original IP from ground up," Abrak says.
"But what's exciting about that project is that we actually got to do an original story. So it's not a gamification of a movie. It's completely beginning and becoming a story, hopefully for a big trilogy out there in the future. And equally important and exciting, it's a new Bond. It's a Bond we built from ground up for gamers. It's extremely exciting with all the tradition and all the history there is there together to work on this together with the family of creating a young Bond for gamers; a Bond that the gamers can call their own and grow with."
IO Interactive has become famous for stealth games thanks to its work with the Hitman series, which is notable for its open-ended design and wry sense of humor (you get to assassinate Sean Bean!). The owners of the James Bond IP were apparently leery of another game based on 007 given the franchise's mixed track record outside of Goldeneye, but IO Interactive was able to convince them otherwise. At the moment, the Hitman franchise is on hiatus while the studio focuses on other projects, but IO Interactive did release a compilation of the Hitman trilogy called World of Assassination in 2023.
The James Bond franchise remains "extremely powerful"
Since IO Interactive announced that it was working on a Bond game back in 2020, MGM has released No Time to Die, which was a generally well-received sendoff to Daniel Craig. Craig's departure means that the Bond franchise is currently between Bonds, but Abrak says that the license is still very powerful.
"When we look at the movies, it's one of the top three IPs out there, it's extremely powerful also because it's been, what, almost 15 years since the last game. So it's been a long time. It definitely is something that is not overexposed in gaming. We actually see that as a strength that we can do something very special and hopefully... There's a lot of people out there who think about GoldenEye as the classic. And I love that game as well myself," Abrak says.
"I don't want to speak too big about it, but I just hope we'll do a thing that will define James Bond in gaming for years to come. And that is not only one game, but that we create a universe for gamers to own for many years to come that we can grow with that next to the Bond on the movies."
Abrak praised the producers of the films for being able to "reinvent Bond throughout the years and keep that IP relevant" and said that IO Interactive have "big, big shoes to fill." Like the legendary secret agent himself, a Project 007 reveal remains frustratingly elusive, but Abrak says that IO Interactive will share more in "due time."
"I don't have an update today, but believe me, it's itching here as well to be talking about it soon. So we are following our plans. The production's going amazingly well and we will soon be talking more about it. I know it was a little teaser, not a lot of information, but there's a lot of cool stuff coming up," Abrak says. "We are also very excited and when we are ready with that, we'll be opening up."
Kat Bailey is IGN's News Director as well as co-host of Nintendo Voice Chat. Have a tip? Send her a DM at @the_katbot.
