James Bond returns with a new origin in “007 First Light”: What you need to know

The British spy is back, and in a video game by makers of the Hitman franchise.

Utkarsh Saurbh

September 11, 2025 / 20:26 IST

A young James Bond in 007 First Light

As promised, like always, James Bond has returned. Though this time, author Ian Fleming’s OO-agent from MI6 has returned to a young, order-defying self, and not in the next film installment by Eon Productions, but in a video game instead called “007 First Light”. Developed and published by Hitman maker IO Interactive, 007 First Light is the first major James Bond game after 2012’s “007 Legends”. Here are a few key things about 007 First Light that you should know, including the release date.

007 First Light: Genre
007 First Light is a narrative-driven third-person action-adventure game with a young James Bond as protagonist, who is yet to earn his license to kill.

007 First Light: James Bond’s reimagined origin story
007 First Light features a standalone, reimagined story of James Bond’s origin. As per the action-adventure game’s lore, Bond lost both his parents in a mountain mishap when he was just 11 years old. His parents “cut their own ropes to save him” and the young Bond watched them fall.

In search for 009
Bond’s first mission as an MI6 recruit sees him and his fellow agents go looking for 009 at The Grand Carpathian, a breathtakingly beautiful international location. One of the agents notes that 009 was the best MI6 agent in his day, but that was a long time ago.

007 First Light: Bond is not a Double-O agent yet
The latest James Bond game features a young and resourceful Bond, who is recruited into the MI6 spy training program. His actions in Iceland have been deemed “ill-disciplined” and “utterly reckless”. Bond’s approach to the mission has certainly not gone down well with his superiors at MI6.