James Bond Owner Didn't Want Another Video Game Until Hitman Developer Pitched Project 007

ign.com:

The James Bond rights holders weren't interested in making another video game until Hitman developer IO Interactive pitched Project 007.

As reported by GamesRadar, IO Interactive co-owners Hakan Abrak and Christian Elverdam told Edge Magazine they had a hard time convincing the James Bond owners to let them make a game in that universe, with poorly received recent releases perhaps putting them off.

"Our impression was clearly that [at the time] they were not looking for a game," said Abrak. "And I think it's fair that they might not have been super happy with some of the later games."

There hasn't been a James Bond release in a while, but the latest two were 2010's 007: Blood Stone (which IGN said was mediocre) and 2012's 007 Legends (which IGN said was bad).

Compared to these more traditional shooter experiences, Elverdam said IO interactive instead proposed an entry less focused on endless violence and more on being a spy that only took down critical targets, which sounds a lot like the Hitman games.

Project 007 was announced in 2020 but IO interactive still hasn't said lots about it. We do know it will have an original story, however, and Elverdam has previously called it an "agent fantasy". The developer is also putting Hitman on hiatus while it works on the James Bond game.

It will still have plenty to keep busy with, of course, as IO Interactive announced in February that an online fantasy RPG is also in development at the studio. "We are embarking on a new adventure. One that expands our creativity, our capabilities, and in some sense our identity. We are building a new world, a new IP: an online fantasy RPG," it said at the time.

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.