Everything You Need to Know About IO Interactive’s Upcoming Stealth Action Game, 007 First Light

December 2025: The release of 007 First Light has been pushed back by two months, now set to launch in May 2026. In exciting news, The Game Awards announced that Lenny Kravitz will portray the bond villain Bawma, complete with some not-so-friendly crocodiles in his reveal trailer. Additionally, the first developer blog prior to the awards showcased new gameplay details and footage, which we’ve compiled below.

The veil has been lifted on 007 First Light, IO Interactive’s stealth action game featuring a young James Bond. After years of speculation surrounding “Project 007,” we finally have a clearer picture of what the creators of Hitman have in store for this legendary character.

A brief trailer that premiered during Sony’s June State of Play introduced us to this fresh take on Bond, followed by another showcase in September that revealed an impressive 30 minutes of gameplay filled with firearms, gadgets, clever infiltration tactics, and even a moment where Bond snatches a parachute from an unfortunate enemy mid-free fall. Tough break for that guy.

While First Light certainly has its stealth elements reminiscent of Hitman, it also delivers on gunplay, hand-to-hand combat, and explosive action sequences straight out of the films. However, this youthful Bond has a lot to learn before he can fully embrace his role as MI6’s top spy.

Here’s everything we’ve gathered from Bond’s dossier so far.

007 First Light is set to launch on May 27, 2026, for PC, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5, and Nintendo Switch 2. Initially slated for a March 27 release, the game’s delay was confirmed through social media posts in December, allowing the team to polish the game further, as it is already “fully playable from beginning to end.”

The journey to this point has been lengthy, with First Light (originally known as “Project 007”) first announced by IO Interactive back in November 2020. The next major update came five years later when the official title was revealed, followed by the first trailer during Sony’s June State of Play.

The latest State of Play provided the most comprehensive look at First Light yet, showcasing over 30 minutes of gameplay, rich exposition, and a plethora of gadgets, firearms, and infiltration strategies.

If you’re not up for a 30-minute presentation, IO has conveniently condensed the gameplay into a two-minute trailer, featuring car chases, gadgets, and Bond bending the rules—definitely hitting all the marks of a classic Bond adventure.

The reveal trailer packed a wealth of information into its three-minute runtime, offering glimpses of Bond’s arsenal. More importantly, it sets the tone and narrative for IO Interactive’s interpretation of the character.

Described as a “bullet without a target,” this version of Bond embodies the essence of how creator Ian Fleming envisioned him in 1953—as a blunt instrument of the government. This Bond is youthful, reckless, and incredibly lucky when things go awry, making him the perfect candidate for MI6 to shape into a suave assassin.

We had the chance to visit IO Interactive for an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at the development of 007 First Light.

While we only have the announcement trailer and snippets from the gameplay reveal, the announcement trailer is packed with hints about Bond’s journey as he earns his license to kill. MI6 recruits him after a surprisingly heroic act during a mission in Iceland, sending him directly after rogue agent 009.

The trailer features quick glimpses of the various locations Bond will explore while hunting down his target, and the gameplay reveal offers an extended 20-minute look at Bond’s early mission tracking 009.

Here’s what we know about the story of 007 First Light so far:

007 First Light is a third-person stealth action game that leans more towards action. Players can expect a variety of global levels with objectives to pursue. Once the campaign wraps up, you can revisit each mission with “additional modifiers,” similar to the Escalations in Hitman.

IO Interactive has made it clear that 007 First Light is not just Hitman with a Bond skin. While Agent 47 is a master of stealth, Bond’s approach is much more direct. “You need a lot of patience to play Hitman,” narrative and cinematic director Martin Emborg explained. “But Bond can just walk through the front door. ‘I’m going to talk to them. I’m going to punch him right now.'”

So how does this play out in practice? Thanks to the extended gameplay footage and a PlayStation blog post, we know there are four distinct ways to tackle situations in First Light.

Expect some thrilling car chases as well, possibly featuring the new Aston Martin Valhalla supercar. With only 999 of these beauties available in real life, you can live the high life as Bond. Other iconic vehicles, including the Aston Martin DBS, have also been confirmed.

For a deeper dive into the gameplay of First Light, check out the 30 minutes of pure Bond action.

The first developer diary for First Light revealed even more about what players can and cannot do as Bond. Key details shared in this video include:

No Bond project is complete without a killer theme song, and it seems likely that Lana Del Rey is crafting the theme for First Light. She registered a song with the ASCAP that shares its name with the game, suggesting she might also lend her voice to it.

While this could be mere coincidence, it would be a nice return for Del Rey, especially since her song for the Bond film Spectre was sidelined in favor of another artist.

Look at him: a fresh-faced twenty-something who probably grew up with an iPad. There’s no way he knows what a cassette tape is—which makes me think he’s got TikTok on his phone. I just need one mission where he tracks a target through a viral dance on a fake TikTok video.