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Here he is: Young Bond.
Not to be confused with James Bond Jr., the Bond starring in Hitman developer IO Interactive’s 007 First Light is “a young, resourceful, and sometimes reckless new recruit” who ended up in the royal navy after “a grand tour of every major boarding school in Britain.” Wouldn’t you know it—Bond’s a bit of a rebel, “a bullet without a target,” and MI6 is ready to aim him at something.
While today’s reveal is mostly cutscenes, with just a few quick snippets of shooting and melee combat, I’m pretty sure that means we’re going to be killing a whole lotta dudes.
Based on a line in the trailer, it sounds like the villain of 007 First Light will be a rogue agent, 009, “a master manipulator.”
IO Interactive CEO Hakan Abrak said that “you’ll experience James Bond as a young air crewman in the royal navy, before the tuxedos and the martinis, as he first steps into the world of espionage striving to earn his 00 status.”
Apparently this version of Bond is 26 years old, and I have to say he’s got an unfortunate case of iPhone face going on. 007 First Light isn’t a period piece—it very much seems set in the modern day—but after decades of watching Bond films, I’m not sure I’m ready to be confronted with one who looks like he vapes or has opinions about Ethereum. With a 2026 release date and a contemporary setting, we’re extrapolating that Bond was born in the year 2000, which makes my bones feel very brittle indeed.
The official press release includes a few more details, though it’s all about what you’d expect.
First Light is “a third-person action-adventure game that blends IO Interactive’s signature stealth and action gameplay mechanics with the world of Bond and MI6” and will let players “choose how to utilize Bond’s unique set of skills in combat, relationships, as well as the latest in Q’s technological gadgetry in his ascent to becoming 007.”
But who’s the smirky boy playing young Bond? IO Interactive hasn’t said, but fans have suggested it may be Patrick Gibson, who starred as young Dexter in Dexter: Original Sin and certainly looks the part.
We’ll see more of 007 First Light soon: IO Interactive is planning a gameplay reveal this summer.
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