IO boss says surprise! Not only is 007 First Light imminent but that fantasy RPG it announced years ago is 'Very, very far' along too

007, IO's Fantasy Game concept art, and Agent 47 in a clown outfit. — (Image credit: IO Interactive)

You know, amid the steady stream of murderable celebs in Hitman: World of Assassination and the hoopla around 007 First Light's imminent release on May 27, I forgot that IO has another iron in the fire—the online fantasy RPG it announced in 2023 (and which I apparently wrote the news article for. The past is a foreign country).

But it's been boiling away somewhere in Denmark (and/or IO's various other studios) all this time, and per IO CEO (Ee Eye Ee Eye Oh) Hakan Abrak in a recent chat with The Game Business, it's actually near to full-cooked.

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So Bond's almost here and the fantasy game—still unnamed, but I continue to think it should star Agent 47 and be called Baldy's Gate—will follow after. And then? It sounds like IO's right back to Hitman, baby.

So IO still has a hell of a lot of game ahead of it, even after 007 First Light hits on May 27. Suits me. I'm curious to see what an IO fantasy game looks like and, considering a solid 34% of my lifetime is now dedicated to repeated runs of Hitman's Freelancer mode, I absolutely can't wait to see what Agent 47's next set of whacky adventures brings.

One of Josh's first memories is of playing Quake 2 on the family computer when he was much too young to be doing that, and he's been irreparably game-brained ever since. His writing has been featured in Vice, Fanbyte, and the Financial Times. He'll play pretty much anything, and has written far too much on everything from visual novels to Assassin's Creed. His most profound loves are for CRPGs, immersive sims, and any game whose ambition outstrips its budget. He thinks you're all far too mean about Deus Ex: Invisible War.