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In This Edition,
IO Interactive’s Hakan Abrak on…
007 First Light ambitions
Working with Amazon
Lessons from MindsEye
The future of Hitman
In a rare break from interviews and market data, I was invited to a video game preview event last month.
It was to play 007 First Light, the long-awaited video game return of James Bond. And I had a blast. If the three hours I played is indicative of the entire experience, then we’ve got something quite special here.
Now I spoke to Hakan Abrak, the CEO of developer IO Interactive last year about the studio’s approach to making games, including Bond and its flagship Hitman series. But a lot has happened in 12 months. Not just with 007, but also across Hitman, its third-party publishing business and the mysterious Project Fantasy. So, I was pleased to welcome Abrak back to discuss all this and more.
You can watch or listen to the full interview above. Or alternatively, keep reading for my selected highlights.
GTA 6 delay gave 007 First Light breathing room
007 First Light was originally scheduled for March. At that time, the game was arriving just a few months before Grand Theft Auto 6. But then the Rockstar title was delayed six months, and Bond quickly moved into its vacated position.
“It would be a lie if I said, ‘no, I don’t care’,” says IO Interactive CEO Hakan Abrak. “GTA is a huge behemoth in our industry. And that it got pushed gave us a bit more breathing room, and as you know, we also pushed the game just to make sure it gets the extra polish in. So, all that could then happen. We appreciate that. We never wish anyone ill. They have their good reasons for pushing it. I am certain it’s going be amazing.”
007 First Light (probably) didn’t cost as much as you think
007 First Light has been in development for seven years, features a starry cast, and an extensive marketing campaign. It looks extremely expensive, but we know from our interview with Abrak last year that IO Interactive tries to be cautious when it comes to budgets. So, are looks deceiving?
“This is the most ambitious project for IO Interactive, and also budget-wise,” Abrak says upfront. “But there is a thing in the industry right now around the success of the AA. You know, ‘how are we going to make money with these big [AAA] budgets in the industry today?’ And there are quite a few people coming to me and saying, ‘oh, I’m sure you’re hoping you can recoup.’ When it comes to building something quality and sustainable, I think we have proven that our approach, and concept, with our engine, and with the way our talent works, that not only do we deliver AAA single player games, but we build a community.
“I’m really happy about the feedback that they can see this is one up on what we’ve done before. But with our engine and efficiency…. it is a very expensive project for us. It’s our most expensive. And I’m not going to talk about exact numbers now. But I’m looking forward to talking about it, because these games can be done for half of what you hear about out there.
“It’s about bang for the buck. It’s about who is your team? It’s about what are you producing? What is your basis? And it’s not about, if you haven’t recouped in the first three months, you are doomed, or it’s over. Or if you did [recoup], then it’s onto the next one. That’s not how we think. We really think of this as a journey. It doesn’t matter if it’s multiplayer or single player.”
Abrak hopeful of more Bond games
Mid-way through the development of 007 First Light, the owners of James Bond changed and Amazon took full control of the IP.
“There’s always some settling to do,” Abrak admits. “There are new people that you have to talk to. But when that change happened, they were very, very impressed with what we had at that point already. And we just got into the collaboration, with all the beats and planning we had to do for the marketing.
“One constant partner from MGM, and MGM Amazon now, has been our executive producer from the other side. He’s been there from day one and is still here, and he’s been a pivotal anchor point.
“But from Amazon’s side, I’ll be so bold and say, they can see it’s a great game. And having invested and taken over that IP, they obviously want to make sure that everything that comes out is great. So, once they got into it and played, they became huge supporters. And we are very grateful for that.”
IO Interactive has an iterative approach to game development. With the firm’s recent Hitman trilogy, each sequel was made for a lower cost than the previous one through careful reuse of assets and technology. My assumption is that it’ll want to repeat that process with 007. But Bond’s new owners will have different ideas and plans to the previous regime. So, is Abrak confident he’ll get a sequel?
“We have a great relationship,” Abrak reiterates. “We are all about quality and to stand by what we do. And I think Amazon is in the same place. There’s no doubt that we all want to see how this is doing. It’s not only Amazon MGM side, is also IO Interactive side. Is our character going to be well received? Is there going to be a community that likes him and wants to see more?
“I’m so grateful given the stories we hear every day in this industry. We are so blessed that we are in a place where we can pick and choose what we want to do. So, if this goes really well and it’s a beloved thing from the community, why not?”
007 is already running on Nintendo Switch 2
IO Interactive was an early supporter of Nintendo Switch 2 with a port of Hitman World of Assassination at launch. The title didn’t chart highly, but Abrak tells us that it has had “steady, ongoing sales, and it’s an important platform for us.”
007 First Light is also coming to Switch 2, but it’s been delayed and is now arriving after the PlayStation, Xbox and PC versions. I had to ask, is this game about to do a Borderlands 4?
“What did Borderlands 4 do?” Abrak asks.
“The game got delayed and then disappeared.”
“It’s running on the Switch 2,” he responds. “We just want to make sure it’s good as it can be. I don’t want to hear it wasn’t a good version. To be completely honest, we need a bit more time to get it where we want it to be. We said summer. It’s probably going be late summer. But we’re going to get it out.”
He adds: “Bond has a special place on Nintendo. And I promise I will do everything I can, and I can do quite a lot being the CEO, to get that in a great shape.”
After the MindsEye disaster, what’s next for IO’s publishing business?
In late 2024, IO Interactive introduced IOI Partners, a third-party publishing business that works on external projects. Its first game was MindsEye by Build A Rocket Boy, a game that had a disastrous launch both critically and commercially last year, and the repercussions continue to this day.
IO ended its publishing agreement with MindsEye in March. Has the experience put the team off signing more games?
“We have a little team on IOI Partners, which is a different thing than IO interactive,” Abrak begins. “I don’t think it has put us off publishing. Those guys were working really hard and it didn’t pan out how they expected, and how we wished either.
“But it was a light distribution deal. If we are to do this in the future, we might want to be more involved in the production gates, or creative processes. But if you want to be part of that process, that obviously means a deeper commitment financially. That’s probably not a distribution-only arrangement. It’s a publisher deal. Something like that we haven’t done before, whether we do that in the future, I don’t know. We have many great plans and new projects coming in context of IO Interactive. The main thing we are about, just to make that clear, is to get our own creations into existence and publish them and distribute them ourselves, and have this close relationship with the community.”
Project Fantasy is safe despite Xbox reports
Once Bond is released, attention then turns to IO’s mysterious online RPG Project Fantasy.
The game had been backed by an undisclosed financial partner, which is reported to be Xbox (as leaked by FTC documents related to the Activision Blizzard acquisition). However, last year Xbox ended most of its third-party partnerships, and is only fully funding a small number of external productions (including Hideo Kojima’s OD game).
“So, first of all, I’m not going to answer what partner it is. I’m not going to confirm or deny anything,” Abrak says. “To the second part of the question, it is in a very healthy place, it’s still financed, and it’s amazing.”
IO will return to Hitman in a big way
Hitman World of Assassination continues to get updates, including limited-time missions featuring celebrities such as Eminem. But it’s been five years since Hitman 3, and IO has spent most of that time on Bond and Project Fantasy.
“It’s the curse of being ambitious sometimes. Bond is a very different game to Hitman, and building that core loop, and that core platform foundation, with whole new systems… that is very, very hard,” Abrak says. “And we just chose to do two of those at the same time.
“Now we are getting towards the end, Bond is being launched in mere weeks from now, and we are very far with the Fantasy project. Being on this side, we are looking forward to get into the weeds with Hitman again. Rest assured we cannot wait to get into the engine room and upgrade, invent and innovate with Hitman.”
Who would win in a fight: Agent 007 or Agent 47?
“That’s a nasty question,” Abrak laughs. “I think it depends on the environment. If there is a premeditation and planning, Agent 47. If it’s improvisation, 007.”
Thank you for joining us today. We will be back on Thursday with a bumper news edition, featuring some big stories, including the return of Circana’s Mat Piscatella on the podcast. Also, we have a bonus newsletter set for tomorrow! Until then, thank you for reading.
