IO Interactive's Project 007 to Feature a 'Young Bond for Gamers' with a View to a Trilogy

Wonder how many Fortnite dances young Bond knows?

I hope third Person...

I trust IOI... but I swear if I see Bond dabbing I am going to riot!

I am really looking forward to seeing what their Bond is like.

'Young Bond' is a bit vague. The movie Bonds tend to be about 35-50 years old. So I'm assuming a 'young' Bond young be late 20's? About 5 years before getting '00' status? I think anyone assuming a teenager or whatever are getting the wrong end of the stick.

Why do I get the feeling it’ll flop after one game and they’ll abandon their dream of a trilogy…? Although seeing it’s the same company as Hitman, they might very well succeed!

It makes sense to make it a younger bond if it’s a trilogy, means there’s more room for the character to go.

I just hope that the story has a serious tone. It's a lot easier to not get bored sneaking through levels if you care about what's going on.

@Fluessigmetall I actually prefer FPS when done right, but most studios don't have the budget and skill of CDPR. You really need fancy animations and graphics to make the immersion of first person worth it over the ease of third person.

Man, I BEEN waiting for this.
Can't believe it's been 4 years and we've barely heard a peep.
I get the feeling 2025-2026 is gonna be a feast for gamers.

It feels like years ago since they said they was doing a 007 game.

I'm quite liking the reveal a few months out from release, I'm not even interested in this game anymore.

I will maybe when it comes out but what is there to be excited about. Few years yet

@Fyz306903 Teenage Bond as seen in Charlie “fast show” Higson’s Young Bond series probably wouldn’t make for a great game, but the “sequel” series by Steve Cole looks like it would be of more use as it is more of a Bond becomes Bond sort of thing.

I believe he becomes 00 not long before Casio Royalenwhich I believe made him 33. So there is a good 15 years or so they could play with if we start after the Young Bond books

This has the potential to go disastrously wrong. "Young Bond for gamers" could very easily migrate into "hello, fellow kids."

If he starts talking about student loans and buying a waffle maker, I'm out.

@LifeGirl If this isn’t basically Hitman but with less murder then I would be surprised and cautious.

I don't really understand the "young Bond for gamers" bit, are they implying all gamers are teenagers, or that an older Bond would have no appeal?

'Young Bond' is utterly pointless. What benefit is that beyond it's Bond with less experience and not even Secret Service (his age is in his late 20s, early 30s when he became 00 according to clues left by Fleming in his novels)? Is that even old?! A 'young Bond' is just Bond. These devs seem to think the actors are Bond. A bit worrying that they don't understand that. How about Bond at the very start of his Secret Service career? A Bond origin story, if you will.

I wonder if we can make him? Like Mass Effect and he'll carry into each game.

@EchoRange doubt it. Bond's image is copyrighted. I'd be surprised if you'll be allowed to make a 5'2" Bond with purple hair and oversized glasses.

I don't want a "young" bond trying to acquire his 00 status. Just give us Bond already established and set him off on a globe-hopping mission. It's not hard.

seems like a match made in heaven

Not really
But I'll take what I can get.
So far the only thing we got in games that come close to the feeling of a Bond/spy movie was the ball scene in Uncharted 4.

One of the main key elements of Bond won't ever be in the game unfortunately - women/love interests.

@Frmknst There could be a love interest, but they'd probably make it not with a woman...

@Frmknst I highly doubt they'll ever include love interests for Bond because somebody, somewhere will label it misogyny unless Bond also gets to romance men, aliens and mythical figures. And then websites will boycott it 🤷‍♂️😊

"Can call their own" sounds like character creation to me - an interesting idea that could work.

@Rich33 I think its a terrible idea. Bond is Bond otherwise what's the point? May as well just make a spy game and save money on buying the Bond licence.

@riceNpea
Why is it a terrible idea - the character has now been played by a number of different people that all look very different.
The idea is a younger bond, so if they simply add a creator you can create a younger version of any of the actors of your choosing (I doubt they want to pay for all those likenesses), or fit more to descriptions in the books if you are into the book canon, or if you wish design a look of your own - everyone wins, and nobody loses.

@Rich33 are we playing a Bond game or a game about the actors who played Bond? Bond has defining characteristics as per Fleming in his books so if the editor sticks to those boundaries I can agree with you. My issue would be with if you're able to make Bond outside of those parameters, at which point you may as well not be playing a Bond game. And Bond is already young. A younger Bond makes no sense to me.

In my eyes is Bond Sean Connery or Roger Moore. My opinion...

@Fyz306903 I would also assume "young" means a Bond in his 20s. I wish more people understood that Bond was a book series first and a film series second. The fact that the game isn't retelling a movie doesn't preclude them using stories from the books (which are way better, in my opinion) and I actually think might translate much better to games than the films. In the books, you get a peak into Bond's internal thoughts, which is something you never get in the films, and could be really cool to explore in a game.

I also would love the game to be set contemporaneously with the books (1950s-1960s), but I don't have a ton of hope for that.

@riceNpea
I would imagine that a lot of 'Bond fans' haven't read even 1 of the books - I know I haven't, but I have watched all the movies.
If the book description matters to you, you could design based on this.
Others will consider the 'correct' bond appearance to be the actor they grew up watching, or like best in the role, and as said there have been a few now...
And if others want to design a bond not based on any book or film, thats their choice, its not hurting me.
Same with age - just go with whatever fits the story in your opinion - they have only said 'young' so far - maybe they will leave it to interpretation or maybe they will give an age later.

If a creator is what they are planning (maybe it is, maybe not - Im only going on what their wording was) it allows everyone to design based on what Bond they want, be it book, actor, or neither.

We dont even know what decade the game will be based in - modern films base themselves in present day, which im sure would make bond a pretty decent age if you stuck rigidly to the birthdate in the books.

@Fluessigmetall it’s Moore for me. You could consider The Saint a form of training.

@Rich33 thing is this is a Bond game. Even the films have tended to follow the character design of Bond (except Daniel Criag who has minor departures) English, 6 foot tall, slim, dark hair, high cheeks, lean face, smarty dressed.

So like I said, if the character editor restricts design to those characteristics, much as the films by-and-large, it's still a Bond game.

It's quite simple, if you want an editor where you can create a 5' 4" Bond, purple hair, wears jeans and a t-shirt, huge muscled American ...well you're not playing a Bond game anymore.

Bond is a decades old, world famous, recognisable, well established character. If a developer chooses to pay top dollar for the copyright licence and then gives the gamer the option to create an avatar that has zero baring to Bond then what's the point? What's the point of playing a Bond game where the protagonist is Bond only in name?

I find it odd to want to customise an iconic character and make it totally unrecognisable. The licence and the appeal is Bond the man first and foremost. The spy craft, the gadgets, the action is the setting for the character, so if remove Bond you're just playing a secret agent simulation, you're just playing a Hitman sequel. What a waste of the Bond licence.

Now, having said that, I would welcome the avatar physically looking like Bond but you could superimpose your own face on the avatar. It's something that FIFA used to do but for some reason it's not caught on in games. That would be a cool wish-fullfillent choice where I could be Bond and pretend it's me doing all the cool Bond stuff.

@riceNpea
Im not saying there shouldnt be some limits - though you might need to be a bit flexible with a few you have stated (eg high cheekbones) if facial mapping is a thing (its a good idea - i probably wouldnt do it, but if it makes others happy, why not, and it might make getting to an approximation of an actor much easier!).

That said, while i would probably aim for something like SC or RM at a suitable age depending on what we learn going forwards, if someone else really wanted to create a 5' 4" bond etc it wouldnt bother me one little bit - whatever makes them happy.
Though tighter limits might remove some of the issues inherent in creator tools....

Hopefully it'll be brilliant. My one concern is that they might stick too close to the Hitman formula. Bond and Agent 47 are different people, and have different ways of resolving problems. Bond is smoother with the ladies, more reliant on gadgets and fast cars (vehicle missions?), and gets himself into trouble more often. On the other hand, 47 is all about the stealth and remaining undetected whilst in plain sight.

Sounds like the reboot that Tomb Raider got.

@riceNpea He could still have a love interest, its not like she would live long anyway.

It'd be interesting if there was a character customisation with presets for all the actors who played Bond 😂.
I'd be going with Pierce Brosnan and I will die on this hill.

Tbh though, a James Bond game using vaguely similar mechanics to the Hitman game could be amazing. I just hope they don't ***** it up.

@pharos_haven 😆 very good!

There was an animated series called James Bond Jr. in 1991.

My most anticipated game at the moment…

i just hope this isnt some "pre-007" exploration of the character. it can be super serious like daniel craig or campy like roger moore for all i care but dont do an origin story ffs. bond doesnt need it

I've watched many of the bond films and played a number of the games throughout the years, though I wouldn't consider myself a huge Bond fan. However, I am thoroughly looking forward to this!

The last game I played was Quantum of Solace, which I enjoyed but found slightly lacking.. perhaps due to limitations of the PS3. This time, I have high hopes simply for the fact it's IO making it. I trust them as a developer.

Saying that; the only thing which worries me, like others here, is the mention of a 'young' Bond. I'm surprised it hasn't been mentioned already, but what immediately sprang to mind for me were the Kingsman films. As much as I enjoyed those, they're too kid friendly compared to Bond.