007: First Light Only Happened as a Bond Origin Story—Not a Pierce Brosnan Pixel Showcase

IO Interactive did not just choose to make 007: First Light an origin story — they basically said it was the only way they were going to do a Bond game at all. That was the pitch. That was the line in the sand. And honestly, it tracks for the Hitman team: if they can not own the character and the vibe, they are not interested.

An origin or nothing

Creative director Hakan Abrak told Edge that the project only happened because Eon let IO make it a Bond origin. If the brief had been 'do your spin on an existing Bond' or 'adapt a movie,' IO would have walked. Abrak even spelled out the studio’s disinterest in recreating a specific actor’s likeness just to check the authenticity box — not a knock on past Bond game teams, more a statement of IO’s DNA: if their stamp is not on the story and the process, they are out.

Little inside baseball note: it is funny, given that several Pierce Brosnan-era Bond games were actually original stories. But the point stands — IO did not want to be trapped under someone else’s version of 007.

No Martini checklist

Cinematic and narrative director Martin Emborg laid out the storytelling approach: the usual Bond surface-level stuff (the drink, the tux, the car) gets stale fast. IO wants you to meet a person who becomes James Bond, not a greatest-hits tour with a wink every five minutes. And since the character has been interpreted so many different ways across books and films, the team never felt chained to a single 'right' answer. The canon gives them room to find their own take rather than panic over whether they are coloring inside the lines.

A new face by design

Bond does have, you know, a face. That would be Dexter actor Patrik Gibson, a relative newcomer, which is very much the point. IO says First Light is its own Bond story with a greener lead, pulling bits and pieces from across the franchise’s history without locking into any one novel, film, or actor. The hope is that a fresher Bond opens the door to a slightly different audience than the usual 007 faithful.

Swinging for the 'all-timer' tier

Abrak is not shy about the goal line here. The team wants an all-time Bond game — something that sits in the same breath as the classic everybody knows — even if it ends up feeling very different from Hitman.

'Everyone knows GoldenEye, it is a legendary game.'

• IO says First Light only exists because it is an origin story they could fully own.
• No movie adaptation, no digital cosplay of a past Bond — they want authorship, not homage.
• The narrative aim: follow a character who becomes 007, not a checklist of tropes.
• Years of films and books give IO cover to craft their own version without second-guessing.
• Patrik Gibson plays Bond, emphasizing a fresher, less established 007.
• Ambition level: make an all-timer Bond game, even if it plays and feels unlike Hitman.