Last Updated on Oct 28, 2025 @ 14:17:17 PM.
IO Interactive has been showcasing their upcoming efforts with 007 First Light, their first foray into the world of the British Secret Agent James Bond. History has seen both good and bad versions of the character in the video game industry, and fans were excited when the project was first announced way back in 2020, thanks to the pedigree of the studio. There were, however, also plenty that decried the announcement, calling it a Hitman reskin and nothing more. Now, with the gameplay reveal, that should have dissipated somewhat.
We spoke to 007 First Light Franchise Art Director Rasmus Poulsen in a chat behind closed doors at Gamescom 2025, discussing everything from worrying historic traits of James Bond (and how IO Interactive has navigated that), to the aforementioned Hitman reskin accusations. On the latter, he had this to say:
“To put it simply, we can’t simply reskin a Hitman game and call it Bond. So that’s where it starts, because the thought is not even considered for us. To make a Bond experience, it’s important that it has ‘width’ we haven’t previously done in the studio, so the main gameplay pillar is ‘a really creative approach’. For Bond, that certainly means a wider experience than what we’ve done before.”
Poulsen went on to mention what the studio has done before with the Hitman series, that we would see facets of in Bond, namely the social manipulation, public spaces (and how you affect them), before going on to mention the “massively bumped up, refined and polished weapon handling system.”, “through how you affect the world around you, in terms of dynamic interactivity and the sensation of being, let’s say ‘boisterous’ in this world”.
It’s certainly clear that Poulsen, and certainly the studio as well, want to ensure that we all realise this is so much more than just another Hitman game, with him continuing on and highlighting the more cinematic moments, set pieces, and ‘over-the-topness’ of a James Bond story/game compared to that of our bald friend, Agent 47:
“Vehicle gameplay, which of course is a whole hairball in its own in terms of getting that both feeling well and being fun, all the way through cinematics, narrative animation capture, human drama, and of course ending up with the grand spectacular action set pieces that you see here at the end. If you look at it from the outside, well, ‘that’s an easy drag and drop type scenario’, it certainly is not.”
Between the gameplay reveal and these comments, it’s clear to see that 007 First Light is NOT just another Hitman game.
For more Thumb Wars coverage, take note of why we’ve all been unfair to io Interactive with 007 First Light, or how Phantom Blade 0 is the one to beat next year, not GTA 6.
Luke Addison is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Thumb Wars. Having previously been a part of multiple outlets over the years, including building an entire gaming team from nothing to something, he thought it best to forge his own path and answer only to himself. As likely to be found playing the latest game as he is in the kitchen relaxing (by cooking), he always brings the same bold and brash attitude to everything he does, with a heavy leaning on sarcasm and dry wit!
