Play As James Bond In Project 007 From Hitman Developer

The biggest untapped pop culture for gaming is finally happening as James Bond is finally returning to the world of video gaming as Hitman developer IO Interactive has announced Project 007.

Attached to their teaser trailer today, IO describe this new James Bond game as a “wholly original Bond story” in which we as “players will step into the shoes of the world’s favourite Secret Agent to earn their 00 status in the very first James Bond origin story.”

This is exciting because IO is bring something new to the franchise, which is always needed and will fill the gap left between No Time To Die and the future Bond 26 movie.

I believe Bond 26 should also be an origin story as it’s an area with plenty of room to play with and could be a terrific time gaining and improving our Bonds skills before becoming the 007 agent and earning his licences to kill.

Not saying it will but it could follow the steps of Anthony Horowitz’s Bond book, Forever and a Day, which is a prequel to Ian Fleming’s first Bond adventure Casino Royale and explored the character’s origins.

The property has the potential to be as popular as Assassins Creed at Ubisoft, Naughty Dog’s Uncharted, Rocksteady’s Batman Arkham trilogy and IO’s own property Hitman.

I always felt an open world/story lead original game would be a massive seller, and when talking about the sell of the rights, gaming would be a talking point. Which is why I felt Warner Bros would be perfect home because of WB Games Montreal and the studio’s relationship with Rocksteady.

However, if not Rocksteady, IO is the perfect fit because of their history of handling stealth/espionage games.

Another positive sign is the developer is working with film studio MGM (probably the studio’s final piece of involvement before the need to sell to get much-needed money) and EON Productions, which means the Broccoli family is involved in some way.

In a press release, IO CEO Hakan Abrakin couldn’t contain his excitement (via IGN).

“It’s true that once in a while, the stars do align in our industry. Creating an original Bond game is a monumental undertaking and I truly believe that IO Interactive, working closely with our creative partners at EON and MGM, can deliver something extremely special for our players and communities.”

He goes on to add, “Our passionate team is excited to unleash their creativity into the iconic James Bond universe and craft the most ambitious game in the history of our studio.”

No release date has been set, but it will be for consoles and PC, or actors have been cast, though I expect this to be the top gig to get of any voice actor or any actor.

There had been games before, but the one that started it was the N64 Goldeneye (which is still seen as the best game) with the last game being 007 Legends in 2012 and the previous original story games being 2010’s Bloodstone.

I can’t wait to hear more, see who they cast and if/when people can return to E3, it could steal the show with the first look trailer and gameplay trailer.