Hitman dev’s James Bond game won’t feature a movie actor, ‘could be a trilogy’

Hitman developer IO Interactive has revealed more details on its plans for a James Bond video game project, revealing that it won’t lean on any of the existing 007 actors.

IO’s Project James Bond was announced via a short CGI trailer in November. The game was described as a “wholly original” Bond story that will be powered by IO’s Glacier technology and release for consoles and PC.

Speaking in a new interview with Danish publication DR, studio head Hakan Abrak revealed new details on the Bond project, including further confirmation that it will not be based on any of the 24 films that have been released over the last 60 years.

According to Abrak, IO intends to build a James Bond universe from scratch: “We have been allowed to make our own digital Bond, which will not lean on a Bond actor,” he said. “We also came up with a completely original story, and you could easily imagine that a trilogy could come out of it.”

The studio head also revealed details on how the deal came about. Abrak said IO had been working on a Bond pitch for almost two years, and eventually presented it to 007 producer Barbara Broccoli in London last year.

Broccoli is the owner of Eon Productions, the British production company that makes the James Bond films. As such, she has final say on any deal involving the fictional super spy.

According to Abrak, Broccoli had sworn that 007 would not appear in another video game because she did not feel that previous games were “worthy enough” and that it was “violence for the sake of violence”.

“At the beginning of the meeting she had a very expressionless face, but the further into the meeting we came, she bled up and started smiling,” he said. “One could see that the younger members of the family lit up when they saw that she was reacting.

“Our story, our background with the Hitman universe and our vision of what Bond is in a game format, went straight to the heart of Barbara Broccoli herself.”

The IO boss said the studio hopes to double its employees to 400 for the Bond project, which will be partly developed by its new Swedish studio based in Malmö.

According to the project’s official website, IO Interactive is currently recruiting “elite talent” to join the team. At the time of publishing, it’s advertising for more than 20 roles, including for technical director, lead game designer and executive producer.

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IO Interactive’s title will be the first major Bond game release since 2012’s 007 Legends, which was developed by Eurocom and published by Activision.

MGM’s Robert Marick said of the game deal last year: “James Bond has a strong legacy in the video game space, with some of the most iconic games of all-time based on the character.

“Working with our partners at EON and the talented team at IO Interactive, we plan to bring a new take on this legendary franchise to gamers and Bond fans around the world. IO Interactive are masters of crafting living, breathing worlds of immersive storytelling.”