By James Bond has been absent from video games for over a decade. That long silence is about to end on May 27, 2026, when IO Interactive drops 007 First Light on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC. If you are a Kenyan gamer, you are looking at a preorder price of approximately KES 9,000 (around $70), which, given how thin the pickings have been for big-budget spy action games in recent years, feels like a reasonable ask. But is it worth it? And what exactly are you getting?
Let us break it all down.
A 14-Year Gap: Why Bond Disappeared From Games
To understand why 007 First Light matters so much, you need to appreciate just how long Bond fans have been waiting.
For most of the 1990s and early 2000s, James Bond was one of gaming's most reliable franchises. GoldenEye 007, released in 1997 for the Nintendo 64, is widely considered one of the greatest games ever made. It was a landmark first-person shooter that influenced decades of game design. What followed included beloved titles like Nightfire, Agent Under Fire, and Everything or Nothing, the latter featuring an original story with a cast that included Dame Judi Dench and Willem Dafoe.
Then the wheels came off. After a string of disappointing titles, 2012's 007 Legends was the last straw. The game failed to impress critics or fans, and following that underwhelming reception, the license holders Eon Productions and MGM revoked the video game license from publisher Activision. Bond simply vanished from gaming, and no one filled the gap convincingly.
For 14 years, fans made do with replaying classics or accepting that Bond had, for all practical purposes, retired from interactive entertainment.
That changed when IO Interactive, the Danish studio behind the acclaimed Hitman: World of Assassination franchise, secured the rights to develop a new Bond game. The project was teased as far back as November 2020 under the working title "Project 007." It was formally unveiled as 007 First Light during Sony's State of Play in June 2025, with a proper gameplay reveal following in September 2025. After a two-month delay from its original March 2026 date (IO Interactive needed more time to polish an experience they described as their most ambitious project yet), the game is now locked in for May 27.
The wait has been long. The anticipation is enormous.
The Story: A Bond We Have Never Seen Before
What makes 007 First Light genuinely exciting is that IO Interactive is not adapting a film or rehashing a classic story. They are writing something entirely new.
You play as a 26-year-old James Bond, voiced and modeled by Irish actor Patrick Gibson, best known for his role in Dexter: Original Sin. This Bond is not yet the polished, world-weary super-spy we know from the films. He is young, brash, and unproven. Before joining MI6, he served as a Royal Navy Aircrewman. The game picks up after he survives a harrowing helicopter crash in Iceland, an ordeal that catches the attention of the intelligence services and earns him a slot in a newly revived Double-O training program.
From there, Bond is thrown straight into the deep end. He is tasked with hunting down a rogue MI6 agent, codenamed 009, to dismantle a massive conspiracy and prevent a looming coup. Successfully completing this mission is what will finally earn him his licence to kill and the legendary 007 designation.
It is an origin story, yes, but it is a clean-slate reimagining, not a tie-in to any existing Bond film. That creative freedom is arguably what makes it so interesting. IO Interactive does not have to work around existing continuity or honour decisions made by a film studio decades ago. They are building their own Bond from scratch.
The Cast
The supporting cast is genuinely impressive. Bond will be guided by:
M, played by Priyanga Burford, as a younger version of the legendary spymaster
Q, portrayed by Alastair Mackenzie in an interpretation that sits older than Ben Whishaw's portrayal in the Daniel Craig films but younger than Desmond Llewelyn's classic take
Miss Moneypenny, played by Kiera Lester
John Greenway, Bond's MI6 mentor, brought to life by Lennie James (The Walking Dead, Snatch)
Selina Tan, a psychology expert played by Gemma Chan (Eternals, Crazy Rich Asians)
Bawma, the main villain described as a flamboyant "Pirate King," played by rock legend Lenny Kravitz
Yes. Lenny Kravitz is playing a Bond villain. That sentence alone deserves a moment.
The Gameplay: Hitman DNA, Bond Energy
IO Interactive built their reputation on the Hitman series, a franchise defined by massive, sandboxed levels full of targets, disguises, and creative assassination opportunities. The question on every fan's mind was simple: would 007 First Light just be Hitman with a tuxedo?
The answer appears to be: not quite, but not entirely divorced from it either.
The studio has deliberately shifted toward a more cinematic, narrative-driven experience. Reviewers who have seen extended previews have drawn comparisons to Uncharted and Batman: Arkham, rather than Hitman. There are bigger set pieces, more dramatic story beats, and a stronger emphasis on Bond as a character rather than Bond as a vessel for creative problem-solving.
That said, the Hitman DNA is clearly running through its veins, and that is a very good thing.
Go Silent or Go Loud
The game's core philosophy is player choice. You can sneak through environments, staying in the shadows and eliminating targets quietly. Or you can pick up a gun and start a firefight. Both approaches are fully supported, and the game's tools are designed to work in either mode.
The Instinct System: Bluff and Lure
One of the most Bond-specific mechanics is the Instinct system. Bond can use his natural charm and quick thinking to actively manipulate situations rather than simply reacting to them.
The "Bluff" ability lets Bond talk his way out of dangerous situations when guards become suspicious, using his cool under pressure to convince them he belongs there. The "Lure" ability lets him draw enemies away from positions for quieter takedowns. It is a system built specifically for a character who is as dangerous with his mouth as with his hands.
Gadgets, Gadgets, Gadgets
Q Branch is well represented. Bond's Omega Seamaster Chronograph is not just a prop; it is an active gameplay tool with multiple functions. It can scan environments to reveal guard positions through walls and identify interactive elements. It can hack electronic systems remotely, triggering distractions or disabling security cameras. In larger set pieces, it can even take control of complex systems, including overriding a cargo aircraft's controls to force it to land.
Beyond the watch, players have access to a growing arsenal of Q Branch gadgets that unlock as the game progresses. These include a dart phone for incapacitating targets silently, shock mine earbuds that can be attached to surfaces, a smoke bomb usable in both stealth and open combat, and a missile pen for dealing with heavily armoured enemies. A laser strap attachment on the watch reportedly fires a directed energy beam capable of disarming enemies or cutting through electronics.
Melee Combat and Environmental Brutality
Hand-to-hand combat takes clear inspiration from the Arkham games. Bond can parry, throw, and execute cinematic takedowns. The game heavily encourages using the environment: shoving enemies into walls, smashing them against tables, throwing them over railings, or kicking them through glass. It is designed to feel visceral and cinematic without being clunky.
Bond's Cars
No Bond experience is complete without high-performance automobiles. 007 First Light features the upcoming Aston Martin Valhalla as Bond's signature vehicle, modified by Q Branch with spy tech baked into its DNA. The game also includes a 1971 Aston Martin DBS V8, along with vehicles from Land Rover and Jaguar. Notably, the iconic Aston Martin DB5 is not in the game, which may disappoint purists, but the Valhalla is a genuinely spectacular replacement.
The game is estimated to offer around 20 hours of average gameplay, which is a solid single-player campaign for a game of this type.
The Platform Situation: Good News and a Nasty Surprise
007 First Light launches May 27 on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC via both Steam and the Epic Games Store. The Nintendo Switch 2 version has been confirmed but delayed to "later this summer," so Switch owners will need to wait a bit longer.
On console, the game runs at 60 frames per second in Performance Mode on both PS5 and Xbox Series X. PS5 Pro owners get the added benefit of PSSR upscaling enhancements.
Preordering automatically upgrades you to the Deluxe Edition, which includes cosmetic content and 24-hour early access to download and play the game digitally before the official launch. There is also a Special Edition priced at $299.99 that includes a Golden Gun figurine, a steelcase with a magnet, a Certificate of Authenticity, the Golden Gun weapon skin, and an Obsidian Gold suit.
The Denuvo Problem
Here is where things get uncomfortable, particularly for PC gamers.
Just six days before launch, IO Interactive quietly updated the game's Steam listing to include a disclosure: third-party DRM, specifically Denuvo Anti-Tamper, would be part of the PC version.
The backlash was immediate and loud. Denuvo is a controversial anti-piracy system with a fraught history in the PC gaming community. The primary concern is performance impact. Critics in gaming forums have called it an "FPS killer," and while the actual performance degradation varies from game to game, the perception alone is enough to drive away a significant portion of the audience.
There is also a deeper frustration at play. Denuvo is increasingly ineffective at its stated purpose of preventing piracy. Hypervisor-based bypass methods have made it possible to crack Denuvo-protected games within 24 hours or even sooner. As one Reddit user put it: "All this does is affect paying customers at this point now that every game has Denuvo bypassed within 24 hours with hypervisor. Anyone who wants to pirate this can do so within 1 day, anyone who wants to buy it now has to deal with DRM."
The timing of the disclosure, coming just under a week before launch after preorders had already been accepted for months, has also been called out as a bad-faith move. The pattern is not new. Crimson Desert did something similar earlier this year, adding Denuvo roughly a week before release, which led to significant preorder cancellations. 007 First Light is now repeating that exact controversy, and the Steam forums have been filling up with users requesting refunds.
SteamOS and Linux users face additional complications, since Denuvo's implementation can interfere with certain Proton configurations. There are also broader concerns about the software's kernel-level access to users' systems, which represents a significant level of system authority.
For console players, none of this is a concern. The Denuvo controversy is purely a PC-specific issue. But if you are a PC gamer considering a day-one purchase, it is absolutely something you need to factor in.
Why This Matters for Kenyan Gamers
Kenya's gaming scene has grown considerably over the past few years. More Kenyan gamers are investing in capable gaming PCs and next-generation consoles than ever before, and titles like 007 First Light represent exactly the kind of high-profile, big-budget release that gives that investment meaning.
At roughly KES 9,000, 007 First Light is not a casual purchase. That is a meaningful sum, and value for money matters. Twenty hours of story-driven gameplay from a studio as proven as IO Interactive, featuring a cast of this caliber and a Bond story told with fresh eyes, is a compelling proposition, especially after 14 years without a proper Bond game.
The Denuvo situation is worth watching closely, however. If post-launch reports from PC players confirm significant performance issues, it may be worth waiting either for a sale or for a potential DRM removal further down the line. Several studios have removed Denuvo from their games months after launch once the initial piracy window closes, and IO Interactive may eventually follow suit.
For PS5 and Xbox Series X owners, that concern does not apply, and the 60fps Performance Mode should deliver a smooth, cinematic experience.
Final Take: The Bond Game We Deserved Is Almost Here
007 First Light arrives at a fascinating cultural moment. The Bond film franchise is between chapters, with the future of the character currently being shaped by Amazon MGM Studios. In that vacuum, IO Interactive has an extraordinary opportunity to define what Bond means for a new generation.
Everything about the design philosophy points toward a team that genuinely respects the character. The decision to build a new Bond rather than retread an old one, the mature reimagining of classic characters, the modern approach to storytelling that jettisons outdated tropes in favour of a sharper, more contemporary spy story, all of it suggests that IO Interactive has thought carefully about who James Bond should be in 2026.
The gameplay looks fluid, the cast is exceptional, and the gadget design is exactly the kind of thing Bond fans have been craving. The Denuvo issue is a real and legitimate concern for PC players, and it deserves to be taken seriously. But it should not overshadow what looks to be the most compelling Bond game in more than two decades.
May 27 cannot come soon enough.
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