Despite the success of 007 First Light, it sounds like Amazon want to make any direct sequels or future games with the world famous spy themselves, according to Amazon Gaming General Manager Jeff Gattis.
007 First Light was developed and self-published by IO Interactive, but with Amazon acquiring the James Bond franchise and multimedia IP through their purchase of MGM, that won’t be what happens in the future.
Since the deal with IO was signed before Amazon got involved, Amazon “didn’t have the full rights to this First Light James Bond game,” Gattis said in an interview with Polygon. However, going forward, Amazon wants to be much more involved and any sequels or other James Bond games will be “done by MGM and, theoretically, by Amazon Game Studios.”
He continued, “We do see this continued integration of video and movies and videogames, where that line is becoming much more blurry. We think that’s a real opportunity for us to create IP that extends—or kind of expands upon—TV shows and movies. So there’ll be a Tomb Raider TV show on Prime Video that’ll go alongside the games. There’s a lot of things we have in the works on new games that’ll relate to Prime Video IP.”
While it does make sense for Amazon to try and tie together film or TV releases with video games – there’s been major bumps in sales and engagement for The Witcher and The Last of Us over the past half decade – trying to take things in-house would be inherently risky. There is the possibility that he misspoke or the frame of reference is wrong, and he simply means that MGM and Amazon Game Studios would have more control and input as a publisher, similar to how Crystal Dynamics is still the lead studio making Tomb Raider games.
Taking 007 First Light sequels away from IO Interactive would be a mistake, in our opinion, and another example of big tech’s failure to understand how game development works – as proven by Amazon Gaming’s own releases and cancellations, or Google’s folly with Stadia. It would take significantly longer for another studio to start development from scratch, when IO Interactive has shown great ability to grow and iterate within a series through the 2016-2021 Hitman World of Assassination trilogy. Instead of trialing a new game engine, doing core gameplay concepts, and the like, IO Interactive could dive straight in with a direct sequel, building on the current game engine, gameplay, characters and story as a foundation.
There is still a chance, anyway. Speaking to The Game Business prior to release, IO Interactive boss Hakan Abrak said, “We have a great relationship. 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 First Light has had a great reception, with fantastic review scores and over 1.5 million copies sold in the first 24 hours. In our review of 007 First Light, Jim said, “007 First Light is an incredibly well-executed action adventure blockbuster with a truly engrossing story, slick presentation, and layered gameplay systems. It marks a major evolution for IO Interactive, thrusting the studio into that coveted top tier of video game developers. It also has us excited for the team’s future projects, whether that’s more Bond or a return to Hitman at some point down the road.”
IO Interactive’s next announced game, though, is something completely different.
Source: Polygon, The Game Business
