007 First Light released May 27 2026 on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S, and it is the first new James Bond video game in more than ten years. Built by IO Interactive, the studio behind Hitman, it is a wholly original Bond origin story that early reviews have called the best Bond game since GoldenEye.
What is 007 First Light about?
007 First Light is a third person action adventure that reimagines Bond's beginning rather than adapting any film. You play a young, reckless naval air crewman who is offered a place in a revived Double 0 program after a heroic act. When a mission to stop a rogue agent ends in tragedy, Bond teams with his reluctant mentor Greenway to expose a conspiracy and stop a looming coup. It runs on IO's proprietary Glacier engine, the same technology that powered the studio's stealth sandboxes.
The cast is the headline draw. Patrick Gibson plays the 26 year old Bond, with Lenny Kravitz voicing the villain Bawma, a figure known as the Pirate King. Lennie James plays mentor John Greenway and Priyanga Burford plays M, rounding out a story that wants to feel cinematic from the first mission.
When did it release and what does it cost?
The game launched May 27 2026 on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S. A Nintendo Switch 2 version was planned for the same day but has slipped to later in the summer with no firm date. The Standard Edition runs $69.99, and a Special Edition at $299.99 adds a Golden Gun figurine, a steelcase, and cosmetic extras.
The release date moved once. IO originally targeted March 27 2026, then pushed it two months for final polish, stating the game was already fully playable end to end. The delay also slotted the launch into the window vacated when Grand Theft Auto VI moved later in the year.
Why does this matter for IO Interactive?
This is the studio's most ambitious project and its biggest swing outside the Hitman series. The fit is natural, since Hitman is built on disguises, infiltration, and gadgets, all of which translate cleanly to spycraft. First Light lets you go quiet or go loud, leaning on the stealth pedigree IO spent years refining while delivering the spectacle the Bond name demands.
For a franchise that had been absent from games for over a decade, the bar was high, and the early reception suggests IO cleared it. A strong launch here positions the studio as a long term home for Bond rather than a one time experiment.