Hitman Dev IO Interactive Put Daniel Craig's Head on Agent 47 When Pitching for James Bond Game 007 First Light

007 First Light is the upcoming action-adventure from Danish developer IO Interactive, the workplace down the famed stealth bid Hitman. But conscionable however were the James Bond video crippled rights secured? Well, it turns retired with a small assistance from a definite Hitman’s assemblage and a precise celebrated face.

IOI CEO and First Light crippled director, Hakan Abrak, revealed to maine astatine a caller workplace sojourn that the caput of the astir caller surface Bond, Daniel Craig, was sculpted onto the torso of Agent 47 and dropped into the World of Assassination.

“We really did enactment Daniel Craig successful there”, Abrak revealed. “We conscionable modeled his caput and enactment it successful alternatively of Agent 47, conscionable for demo purposes, giving an content of what these living, breathing spaces mean successful an IO game. And if you are acquainted with the franchise, determination is simply a level called Sapienza with the microorganism successful the caves underneath the compound. So we showed immoderate things disconnected determination and, yeah, it was good received.”

The sun-soaked streets of Sapienza supply the nonstop benignant of beachy Italian relaxation spot that you tin ideate Bond lying debased in, but successful Hitman’s world, it's laced with deadly accidental — a sentiment IO wanted to convey successful this circumstantial objection to the licence holders astatine MGM and Eon.

“It was conscionable for demo purposes, right?” Abrak continued. “I deliberation what they saw successful america and what we are besides conveying is our space would beryllium to effort to present a 360 acquisition wherever it's not needfully astir lone shooting and chopped scenes — there's surely that successful our crippled arsenic good — but it's besides being capable to research the portion of the Bond phantasy wherever helium is successful societal spaces wherever helium is utilizing not lone his fisticuffs, but besides his charms and bluff and figuring retired antithetic ways successful those societal spaces to flooded the obstacles oregon get what helium wants. How would a charming Bond fare successful a concern similar this wherever helium doesn't person to needfully edifice to violence?”

Sapienza has go 1 of the astir beloved Hitman maps ever since its 2016 introduction, and you tin spot wherefore it was picked by IO arsenic the cleanable illustration of its marque of societal stealth gameplay. Blunt unit is, of course, an option, but overmuch much Bond-like ngo stories are disposable too, specified arsenic gatecrashing a romanticist rendezvous involving 1 of the targets and her play manager person — the benignant of script James could easy find himself tied up in.

But First Light was ever going to beryllium a Bond root story, so, portion it was each amusive and games sticking Craig’s look onto 47’s, the British histrion was ne'er a genuine enactment to play IO’s 007. Instead, the workplace has gone overmuch younger, selecting Patrick Gibson to represent its 26-year-old James.

“We've lone made archetypal worlds and characters before, truthful this is our archetypal clip moving connected thing else”, Abrak explains. “So it was precise important for america that we could enactment our originative fingerprints connected this arsenic well. So we weren't funny successful a gamification of a movie oregon possibly wherever it's astir method prowess only, similar pushing the pixels connected Pierce Brosnan, for example, oregon conscionable taking immoderate bespoke scenes from a movie and realizing them successful gaming.”

It was very, precise important for america that this was built from the crushed up arsenic a crippled for gamers, but that really, truly felt similar a genuine Bond experience. And besides exploring a abstraction that hasn't been explored before, wherever it's not needfully astir conscionable starting from time 1 with this super-experienced cause that knows precisely from the commencement of the crippled however helium wants his drinks oregon however he's walking astir successful a tuxedo. But portion of the acquisition is that this young antheral is learning the ropes and is being faced with the satellite of espionage and becoming passim this journey. So I thought that was precise absorbing to explore.”

You tin work astir the casting of IO's caller James Bond here. You tin besides cheque retired however Queen Elizabeth II’s passing affected First Light’s development, and the IO CEO’s thoughts connected publishing MindsEye pursuing its disastrous launch.

For overmuch much connected 007 First Light, marque definite to work my extended preview afloat of gameplay and communicative details.

Simon Cardy is simply a Senior Editor astatine IGN who tin chiefly beryllium recovered skulking astir unfastened satellite games, indulging successful Korean cinema, oregon despairing astatine the authorities of Tottenham Hotspur and the New York Jets. Follow him connected Bluesky astatine @cardy.bsky.social.