September, 2025: 007 First Light made its extended gameplay debut during Sony's September State of Play, and with over 30 minutes of footage on show, it's made us pretty shaken and stirred with excitement. Along with details revealed at Gamescom, we've updated every section on this page to reflect all of the most up to date information we have on IO Interactive's ambitious take on Bond.
The cover's blown on 007 First Light, IO Interactive's stealth action game starring a young James Bond. After some teasing and years of quiet work on "Project 007," we finally know what kind of game the Hitman developer has been cooking up for the iconic character.
A short trailer that debuted during Sony's June State of Play gave us a look at 007 First Light's original version of Bond, and then another State of Play in September showed off an impressive 30 minutes of footage packed with guns, gadgets, clever infiltration, and Bond punching a poor grunt mid-free fall and stealing his parachute. Poor guy.
While First Light absolutely has stealthier moments that look quite a lot like Hitman, it also has gunplay, fist fights, and explosive action set pieces ripped right out of the films. Unlike Agent 47, though, this baby-faced Bond has a lot to learn before he can truly take on the role of MI6's spy extraordinaire.
Here are all the details we've been able to decode from Bond's dossier so far.
007 First Light release details
As revealed during Sony's September State of Play, 007 First Light will be released on March 27, 2026 for PC, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5, and Nintendo Switch 2.
It's taken quite a while to get to this point, as First Light (then called "Project 007") was revealed by IO Interactive all the way back in November 2020. The next significant update came five years later when its proper title was revealed. More details, and the game's first trailer, then debuted during Sony's June State of Play a few days later.
Sony's latest State of Play provided the best look at First Light so far, though, with over 30 mins of gameplay, a nice chunk of exposition, and lots of cool gadgets, guns, fist fights, and infiltration tactics on display.
007 First Light trailers and gameplay footage
Gameplay trailer
If you don't feel like sitting through a 30 minute presentation, IO have handily condensed all of the gameplay shown off during Sony's September State of Play (plus a little more) into a more digestible two minute trailer. It's got guns, it's got car chases, it's got gadgets, and it's got Bond disobeying orders—yep, sure ticks all the boxes of a Bond adventure.
Reveal trailer
First Light's reveal trailer packed a bunch of details into its three minute runtime, including a quick peek at Bond's guns and gadgets. However, it's more about setting up the tone and story of IO Interactive's vision of Bond.
He's described as a "bullet without a target," much like how creator Ian Fleming conceptualized the character back in 1953 as a blunt instrument wielded by the government. This Bond is young, naive, reckless, and unbelievably lucky when things go awry—a perfect lump of clay for MI6 to mold into a dashing killer.
Exclusive interview with IO Interactive
We visited IO Interactive for an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at the development of 007 First Light. Check it out!
007 First Light story and setting details
We only have the announcement trailer and some parts of the gameplay reveal to go off, but thankfully the announcement trailer was packed with hints at what we can expect as Bond earns his numbers in 007 First Light. MI6 recruits Bond after making a surprisingly heroic act on a mission in Iceland and fires him directly at rogue agent 009.
The trailer shows several brief shots of all the places Bond will visit as he tracks his target down, and the gameplay reveal shows off an extended 20 minute look of Bond on an early mission while tracking down 009.
Here's everything about 007 First Light's story that we know so far:
- After losing his parents on a climbing expedition when he was 11, this version of Bond rabble roused through several boarding schools before ending up in the royal navy.
- The story is set in the modern day and begins with a 26-year-old Bond who's picked up by MI6 after a heroic act during an Iceland mission.
- His mentor, Greenway (played by The Walking Dead’s Lennie James), thinks he's a risk, but reluctantly agrees to train him.
- Rogue agent 009 is his target and is described as a "master manipulator."
- Bond will travel to several locations, including England, Slovakia, and what looks like Vietnam.
- Familiar characters from the franchise will return, including M, Q (who is an older gentleman), and Moneypenny.
- Bond teams up with Agent Charlotte Roth in London, with Roth an agent of DGSE, France's MI6 equivalent. She's also after 009.
- At some point Bond and Greenway will be tied up in a pit full of crocodiles.
- Bond's a bit funnier than usual? I guess that's what young Bond might have been like before his body count reached "are we the baddies?" level.
007 First Light gameplay features
007 First Light is a third-person stealth action game that seems to lean more toward the action. There will be a variety of levels set around the world with objectives to chase after. And once you finish the campaign, you'll be able to revisit each mission with "additional modifiers," much like Escalations in Hitman.
IO Interactive has been clear about one thing though: 007 First Light isn't Hitman with James Bond. Agent 47 may be a trained killer like Bond, but his specialty is getting the job done completely undetected. Bond's approach "has a lot more forward momentum," narrative and cinematic director Martin Emborg told told PC Gamer in an exclusive interview.
"You need a lot of patience to play Hitman," Emborg said. "You need to be sitting there seeing the patrol—he goes over there, and he likes wine, and you overhear that thing. But Bond, he can also just walk through the front door. 'I'm actually just going to go and talk to them. I'm just going to go punch him right now'."
So how does this practically work? Well, thanks to the extended gameplay footage and a PlayStation blog post, we know there are four distinct ways you can approach a situation in First Light:
- Spycraft: this is your toolkit for the quieter side of the job. You can eavesdrop on conversations for intelligence, lift a keycard from a distracted guard’s pocket, or piece together clues from environmental details others might overlook. Every bit of information can open a shortcut or give you a way around a challenge, or a crowded security room.
- Instinct: Bond’s natural aptitude in gameplay form, reflecting his quick thinking and adaptability. Instinct is a limited resource that will fill itself as you take down enemies, complete objectives, and perform other activities. You can use it to lure a guard toward you for a silent takedown, bluff your way past someone who’s getting suspicious, or give you a bit more time to take the perfect shot during a firefight. (AKA it acts as a slow-mo bullet time mode during a fight.)
- Gadgets: These devices from Q Branch are an essential part of your toolkit, giving you plenty of possibilities to tackle each situation you face. You might hack a camera system to clear a path, cut through a locked door with a laser, or distract a guard long enough to slip by. As you progress through the missions, you will unlock more gadgets.
- Combat: You’ll swap between gunplay and up-close brawls. In tight spaces, Bond can throw an opponent over a railing, smash them against a wall, disarm them in one smooth motion, or use the nearest object to incapacitate them. Melee skills include parries, throws, and takedowns, which are "designed to look cinematic but still feel responsive in your hands."
There's also some neat looking car chases to look forward to in between the more flexible missions.
And if you want an extended look at what the gameplay in First Light is like, here's 30 minutes of pure Bond.
It's frighteningly possible Bond knows what TikTok is
Look at him: He's a barely-out-of-school twenty-something who probably grew up with an iPad. There's no way he knows what a cassette tape is—which has me convinced he's got TikTok installed on his phone. I just need one mission to involve Rainbolting the location of a target via someone doing a viral dance on a fake TikTok video.
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