IO Interactive’s upcoming adventure game 007 First Light has quickly become one of the most anticipated games of 2026. As the name implies, it’s based on the critically acclaimed franchise of the same name, and in the upcoming game, you’ll be playing as a young James Bond who’s still learning what it means to be a Double O.
As we’ve gotten closer to the game’s March release date, more information has emerged. We now know that Gemma Chan, who starred in films such as Eternals and Don’t Worry Darling, will be joining the game. She’ll aid Bond throughout the game. Chan isn’t the only celebrity making an appearance, as it was recently announced that award-winning artist Lenny Kravitz will be playing Bond’s counterpart in the upcoming game.
Despite that, we still don’t know much about the story. But what we do know is that, similar to the Bond films, we’ll be taken to all sorts of exotic locations throughout the world, and there’ll be plenty of action and spy scenes that the series is known for.
During The Game Awards 2025, MonsterVine sat down with the narrative and cinematic director for 007 First Light, Martin Emborg, to talk about what fans can expect from ioi’s upcoming game.
MonsterVine Talks 007 First Light With IO Interactive’s Narrative Director
MonsterVine: How would you explain this game to someone who knows absolutely nothing about James Bond? What would the elevator pitch be?
Martin Emborg: I mean, you get to be the coolest secret agent in the world. I mean, that’s the shortest pitch, right? James Bond is endlessly charming. He’s funny, he’s incredibly cool. Like, the more dangerous it is, the more focused he gets. I think he’s the coolest guy in the world.
MonsterVine: IO is known for its stealth games. It’s clear that 007 First Light will have a lot of fast-paced action scenes. Did the team face any creative challenges when stepping out of that stealth box?
Emborg: I mean, just upping the action. Giving the player the ability to just kick ass like, we’ve developed an amazing close combat system, which is really immersive and contextual, so you’ll use the environment, you’ll use them against each other. You’ll be throwing them over edges. It’s really physical because Bond is a very physical guy. It’s a lot of fun, and I think that’s something that IO hadn’t done before. I think we’ve also put layers and layers on our range combat. Like, really polishing that and taking that to the next level. So, I think everyone at IO has been really hungry to kind of go for that. Yeah, as well as big set pieces, trucks, and planes, you know.
MonsterVine: Melee combat is always a challenge. Did the team look at other melee-focused games like Metal Gear Solid when it came to implementing/studying this?
Emborg: [Other games like Metal Gear Solid] are very kind of mathematical. I think where this is a lot more chaotic. So thought more improvisational, like you will use a cup. You’ll be putting him on the table. It is a lot more reactionary, it’s less about planning like an Aikido thing. It’s a lot more like a brawl.
MonsterVine: One of the things that makes Bond such a memorable character is the people that he has around him. Can you share some more insight on who the Bond girls are and how they relate to the story?
Emborg: What I think is so fun this time is that [it’s a Bond origin story]. So you really get to tag along as this young guy steps into this, you know, world of Shadows, the world of Espionage. Everyone who’s around him are these kind of old hands in this world. So he’s really the one that’s kind of like the new kid on the Block. And that goes for the women as well. So, obviously, we have Priyanga as M at MI6. But he will also meet some women in the field, who are these kinds of seasoned agents that will be running circles around him a little bit. And that’s a lot of fun.
MonsterVine: Bond is known for being a smooth talker and, at times, a womanizer. Will we be seeing this side of him?
Emborg: Yeah, you will. But obviously, as they were saying on stage before, the character Bond has evolved. So, he’s evolved through the decades, and obviously, we reflect modern values. So it’s not going to be your old school Bond, which would just be tone deaf in this day, right? He’s a modern guy.
MonsterVine: Can you share some more insight into Lenny Kravitz’s character and what the initial pitch for him was like?
Emborg: We needed someone who was larger than life. We needed someone who had that kind of charisma, and we also wanted to take Bond to the most dangerous place we could find. So, going to the black market, arms hub on the shore of Mauritania, we needed someone who could kind of bring that personality like someone who could really kind of drive this character forward. So when Lenny Kravitz came on board, he was instrumental in shaping the character, and so he really brought a lot of that character with him. So we worked together on deciding how he looks, how he talks, and it was a lot of fun. It was a great pleasure.
MonsterVine: What kind of research went into creating a lot of these over-the-top action scenes?
Emborg: We just got in a lot of fights and drove a car off a cliff. No, actually, your question kind of makes me want to also say that. I think it’s important to say that there is a lot of spy work in there as well. There is stealth, and kind of like the finer, you know, social infiltration and stuff like that. It isn’t all exposed.
We might be over-indexing because we’re used to making a lot of stealth. Then we go, like, yeah. But this time, it explodes as well, but there is a lot of stealth and a lot of social infiltration and stuff like that. Which obviously is very much in our wheelhouse. We’ve been expanding, expanding the team and bringing on talent that has, you know, a lot of experience doing these kinds of bigger action set things. So obviously, they bring with them a lot of know-how, but in terms of research. I mean, I think we’ve all throughout our lives, we love playing big action games, and we love watching big action movies, and so we were really keen to kind of say, like, ‘How can we deliver on that?’ ‘How can we one-up all these things that we remember, obviously from the Bond movies, but also from other games?’ ‘What is the next gear?’
MonsterVine: A big part of being Bond is knowing how to read a room and blending in. Because if you say or do the wrong thing, you will be exposed. Can you share some insight on how the spywork and social mechanics will be in-game?
Emborg: We have a big kind of social sandbox. Because the game is basically about creative approaches. How are you gonna get through this and achieve this mission? There’s this objective that you have, and there’s a lot of social stuff going on. A lot of interesting stuff to engage with and creative ways of getting through.
MonsterVine: 007 has some of the most iconic soundtracks around. What sort of challenges did the team face when it came to modernizing it and making it stand out?
Emborg: We’re working with some amazing composers on this. As I was saying before, we have a take obviously. But we would be fools not to lean into the Heritage, because that is, if anything, iconic. So, I think it’s been a great pleasure to have at your disposal these very, very iconic motifs. When do you play that hand when it’s a good moment to have that breath stab, and when do you go somewhere else? That’s been really, really cool, and a great storytelling too as well.
