James Bond will return, and Amazon has clarified that a possible future sequel will likely be made with the help of IO Interactive, the studio behind the recently released 007 First Light, a game that has already sold over 1.5 million copies and is scoring rave reviews.
“Amazon MGM holds the rights to any future James Bond video games, but it’s still too early to discuss future projects,” an Amazon spokesperson told VGC.
“We have a great relationship with IO Interactive and are proud of what we’ve accomplished together on 007 First Light. Our partners at IO will reveal more about 007 First Light in the near future, and we’re looking forward to sharing what’s next.”
This new statement from the company arrives after previous comments from Amazon Game Studios boss Jeff Gattis seemed to suggest to many online that the retail giant would make the next Bond game without IOI. On June 4, in an interview with Polygon, Gattis talked about how First Light, which was greenlit before Amazon bought MGM and the Bond license, was self-published by IOI.
He explained that wouldn’t be the case with future Bond games, adding: “[We] didn’t have the full rights to this First Light James Bond game” and that future sequels will be “done by MGM and, theoretically, by Amazon Game Studios.”
This comment spread online, and many assumed that Gattis meant that Amazon would take over development of any future 007 games, meaning a proper First Light sequel from IOI was off the table. This led to a lot of online shouting and complaining. But that doesn’t actually seem to be the case. Instead, Amazon is just explaining that any future games would likely be published by Amazon and that the company would have more involvement, which makes sense as it owns the Bond franchise.
It never made sense that Amazon, a company that has scaled back its game development plans a lot in recent years, would be able to develop a follow-up to a game like First Light. It makes far more sense that it would partner up with another studio to make something like that, in the same way Amazon is working with Crystal Dynamics and Flying Wild Hog on two new Tomb Raider games.
Amazon didn’t confirm a First Light follow-up in its statement to VGC, saying that it’s “still too early to discuss future projects.” But considering how well First Light is doing and how quickly the company leaped in to correct the online confusion about Bond’s future, I’d say it’s very, very likely IOI gets to make another 007 game in the future.