The website of the Danish Broadcasting Corporation (DR) revealed that Copenhagen-based game developer IO Interactive took over seven years and more than 1.3 billion kroner ($200 million) to make 007 First Light.
The timeline is probably not that surprising to those who have followed the game since its announcement, which took place in November 2020 as "Project 007". The game was likely in development for at least a year and a half before the announcement.
The budget figure is fairly high, but not incredibly so. We know that triple-A games can easily cost $300 million nowadays, and the studio has four offices outside Copenhagen: Barcelona (Spain), Brighton (UK), Istanbul (Turkey), and Malmö (Sweden), with over 500 employees in total. Granted, not all of them were working on 007 First Light, as the studio is also developing an online fantasy RPG codenamed Project Fantasy.
Still, most of the studio was likely focused on the James Bond game, at least in the final stretch. So far, the effort appears to have paid off. The game sold more than 1.5 million units in the first 24 hours of its launch, and critic reviews are very strong. I really enjoyed my time with the game, as noted in my review, though I do believe there's still some room for improvement in the inevitable sequel:
007 First Light is one of the greatest James Bond games ever made. IO Interactive crafted a great third-person adventure game that mixes linear and open-ended levels and delivers an Oscar-worthy narrative to support it all. There's still room for improvement in the already-confirmed sequel (the credits close with 'James Bond will return'), but Bond's origin story is already a must for genre fans.
Granted, it will take at least twice as many sales to come close to breaking even when you consider that all of the platforms (save for the Epic Games Store) have a 30% tax attached to every sale.
About the author: With over two decades of experience in gaming journalism, Alessio Palumbo has led the gaming vertical at Wccftech since August 2015. He started working at a young age for Italian websites like Everyeye.it, Gamestar.it, Nextgame.it, and Multiplayer.it before kickstarting the indie English-language publication Worlds Factory as its founder and Editor in Chief. In the last decade, he has coordinated the overall output of Wccftech's gaming section, managed PR relations, assigned reviews, produced daily news coverage, edited gaming content as needed, and delivered game reviews. Arguably, his trademark content is the long series of exclusive developer interviews that have been cited by Wikipedia and by the biggest news media and gaming publications. His passion for technology also makes him knowledgeable when it comes to gaming hardware and tech. His favorite genres include RPGs, MMORPGs, and action/adventure games.
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