naiwa 2026-05-06

According to Hakan Abrak, the new James Bond game became the most expensive in the studio's history, but still cost less than many AAA projects.

IO Interactive head Hakan Abrak in an interview with The Game Business talked about 007 First Light and admitted that the delay of GTA VI worked in the project's favor. The freed-up window allowed the studio not to rush the release and to use the additional time for the final polish of the spy action game.Abrak confirmed that 007 First Light is the most expensive project in IO Interactive's history. At the same time, he implied that the expenses were still noticeably lower than the amounts often mentioned today in the industry when discussing major AAA releases. In his opinion, games of this scale can be made significantly cheaper than commonly believed.The studio head also expressed hope that the new interpretation of Bond would please the audience and receive a continuation. The version for Switch 2 already exists, but it is still being refined, so the release will likely take place closer to the end of summer. After the release of 007 First Light, the team will focus on their fantasy online RPG, and then possibly return to the Hitman series.In the humorous part of the conversation, Abrak speculated about a hypothetical fight between James Bond and Agent 47. In his opinion, with careful preparation, the advantage would be with Agent 47, while in a situation where everything is decided by improvisation, Bond would appear stronger. …