007 First Light is a marvelous achievement rooted in IO Interactive’s seminal sandbox stealth gameplay, but wholly unafraid of ambitiously exploring a ton of other gameplay features to craft a well-rounded and cinematic James Bond epic. It’s also neat that IO developed and published it on its own, though the future of the 007 IP and IO’s role in shaping it via video games was already altered before 007 First Light was released.
Indeed, it was announced last year that Amazon MGM Studios acquired “creative control” of the James Bond franchise, and ultimately decides what may become of IO’s theoretical 007 First Light sequels. Many fans instantly took this to mean that Amazon will assume developer duties as well as publishing duties, and while it has now thankfully been clarified, there are still fans who are worried about IO and wary of Amazon’s hand being in that cookie jar.
In an interview with Polygon, Amazon GM of gaming Jeff Gattis confirmed that the James Bond “IP acquisition happened after the First Light IO deal was already done,” and that any sequels would now be “done by MGM and, theoretically, by Amazon Game Studios.” Likewise, an Amazon spokesperson told VGC that “Amazon MGM holds the rights to any future James Bond video games but it’s still too early to discuss future projects.”
Therefore, all we know with any semblance of certainty is that Amazon will be publishing any 007 First Light sequels, with IO no longer self-publishing, and that shouldn’t affect the ability for IO to develop them. But while Amazon merely publishing new 007 games wouldn’t be all that alarming, fans are still concerned that Amazon will find a way to shove IO out of the picture completely.
On Reddit, especially after Amazon referred to IO’s work on 007 First Light as a feat that they accomplished “together,” user tayung2013 is highly skeptical: “They are patting themselves on the back for IOI’s work and will happily cut them out of the picture next time if they think it will save them a buck.”
Of course, fans’ biggest fear is that IO will not be brought back to develop a 007 First Light sequel, even if that becoming a reality would seem drastic and foolish. 007 First Light is arguably a game that only IO could make, due to its genetic essence being so distinguished and singular, and Amazon would be shooting itself in the foot in multiple ways if it was to exclude IO: firstly, fans would riot and boycott Amazon; and secondly, Amazon would have its work cut out for it in attempting to find a developer (let alone trying to develop sequels in-house) that could replicate all the beautiful nuance of 007 First Light’s gameplay.
It’ll probably be a while until we hear actual details regarding a 007 First Light sequel. In the meantime, all we know is that Amazon will be publishing these future James Bond games, and we can only assume that IO will still be attached to them.
- Released
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May 27, 2026
- ESRB
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Teen / Blood, Language, Suggestive Themes, Violence, In-Game Purchases
- Developer(s)
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IO Interactive
- Publisher(s)
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IO Interactive