As word arrives that the Hitman series is on “hiatus”, in terms of developing new games, IO Interactive’s attention turns to James Bond instead. If you didn’t know, IO is making a James Bond game and it’s called Project 007. It was announced two years ago and IO hasn’t said anything since.
I had a chance to talk to IO co-owners Christian Elverdam and Hakan Abrak recently, though, so I thought I’d ask and see if there was anything more they could say. And I was pleasantly surprised.
“I think we can say a few things…” Elverdam began.
“First of all, it’s extremely awe-inspiring and literally just inspiring to work with the team at Eon [Productions], the people who are behind everything Bond,” he said. “It’s odd because from my perspective, I’ve been used to defending Agent 47; people want to do things with our franchise and you feel that stewardship.”
(Did you ever see the Hitman film with Timothy Olyphant? Right.)
“And obviously for them, that is their role in the Bond franchise. So for us it’s been about finding a mutual understanding of ‘what is James Bond about?’
“And as we’ve talked about,” he added, “we’re doing an origin [story], because one thing, to show the trust they’ve instilled in us, is that we’re allowed to build a James Bond for the games [audience], which I think is a profound homage to where our industry is and where the medium is, in the sense that yes, it’s time to have a James Bond character who was not a movie character but who’s comfortably just his own game character.
“And getting to earn that trust has been very, very, humbling, and we feel honoured.”
Elverdam recalled a trip the team took to Pinewood Studios, to the set of James Bond – a trip he couldn’t talk about until now, it seems. “And I recall Hakan and I, and part of the crew, walking around in what we later found out was the streets of Havana in No Time to Die, and getting to M’s office,” he said. “And you feel extremely humbled and you understand the gravity of what James Bond actually is.