How IO Interactive Won James Bond: The Daniel Craig Agent 47 Demo Behind 007 First Light

When IO Interactive, the Danish studio behind the acclaimed Hitman series, went hunting for the James Bond license, they did not simply bring paperwork and sales pitches. Instead, they showed what they could do – quite literally – by blending their existing creation, Agent 47, with the unmistakable face of Daniel Craig.

It was a bold move that highlighted both their creativity and their confidence in shaping the future of Bond in video games.

During a recent studio visit, IOI CEO and game director Hakan Abrak revealed the surprising tactic. For their pitch to MGM and Eon, IO Interactive inserted Daniel Craig’s sculpted head onto Agent 47’s body inside the Hitman engine. The result was an early glimpse of how the essence of Bond could feel within IO’s signature stealth-driven environments. “We actually did put Daniel Craig in there,” Abrak explained. The demo used the iconic Sapienza map – one of Hitman’s most beloved locations, a picturesque Italian coastal town hiding sinister secrets beneath its postcard-perfect exterior.

For Bond fans, Sapienza felt like home: golden beaches, Mediterranean villas, and lurking danger around every corner. IO’s message to the Bond rights holders was clear: their worlds are living, reactive spaces where charm and cunning matter as much as gunplay. Abrak emphasized that they wanted to convey a ‘360-degree’ Bond fantasy – not just action set pieces and cutscenes, but also those quieter, socially charged moments where espionage thrives. “How would a charming Bond fare in a situation like this where he doesn’t necessarily have to resort to violence?” Abrak asked. It was a question IO intended to answer in full with its new project.

This design philosophy mirrors how Hitman levels operate. Players are free to approach missions with brute force, but the real joy lies in manipulation, disguise, and social stealth – slipping into cocktail parties, sabotaging romantic rendezvous, or bluffing their way past obstacles. In many ways, Hitman’s DNA already echoed Bond’s world, but IO saw an opportunity to push further and tailor the fantasy for a different hero.

Yet, despite the amusing imagery of Daniel Craig’s head on 47’s bald frame, the studio was never planning to make a Craig-led game. IO’s vision for 007 First Light was always rooted in originality: a Bond origin story centered around a much younger protagonist. That’s why they cast Patrick Gibson, a rising actor, to portray a 26-year-old James Bond just stepping into the dangerous world of espionage. Instead of replicating familiar movie moments or borrowing from Craig’s established persona, IO wanted to give players the thrill of watching Bond evolve.

For Abrak and his team, this was a crucial distinction. “We’ve only made original worlds and characters before, so this is our first time working on someone else’s universe,” he explained. “It was very important for us that we could put our creative fingerprints on this. We weren’t interested in a gamification of a movie.” That philosophy meant steering away from simple recreations of film sequences or pixel-perfect digital doubles of past Bonds like Brosnan or Connery. Instead, they committed to building a fresh, fully interactive Bond adventure from the ground up.

This approach not only honors Bond’s cinematic history but also carves new ground. Gamers will not start with a polished secret agent who already knows his martinis and tuxedos. Instead, they will experience the uncertain beginnings of a man who is still learning how to operate under pressure, how to manipulate situations, and how to survive in a world of double-crosses. The journey of becoming Bond, rather than simply playing him, is what IO hopes will make First Light stand apart from past 007 adaptations.

Beyond its gameplay and story vision, IO also sees this as a statement of creative identity. The studio has spent decades proving it can build reactive sandboxes where players improvise solutions in ways that feel cinematic without being scripted. Applying that philosophy to James Bond means letting players craft their own spy stories – whether that means slipping poison into a drink, seducing information out of an enemy, or dismantling a criminal empire with nothing but wit and guile.

Interestingly, the game’s development also coincided with real-world events that affected its tone. Following Queen Elizabeth II’s passing, IO revisited certain themes in First Light, carefully considering how to present the legacy and heritage surrounding the Bond universe. These decisions underline how deeply the team is thinking about cultural context, not just gameplay mechanics.

At its heart, though, the pitch that sold MGM and Eon was as much about vision as it was about spectacle. By cleverly showcasing Daniel Craig inside Sapienza, IO demonstrated both respect for Bond’s cinematic identity and confidence in their own proven gameplay formula. The gamble worked: IO Interactive secured the rights, and now the studio is preparing to deliver something rare – a Bond video game that is not tied to a specific movie, but instead promises a fully original adventure built for gamers first.

With Patrick Gibson stepping into the tuxedo and IO’s unique design philosophy steering the ship, 007 First Light aims to give fans an experience that is as much about becoming James Bond as it is about being him. That means not only the thrill of espionage action but also the subtler pleasures of infiltration, improvisation, and charm – exactly the elements that make Bond timeless. If the pitch was any indication, IO may be on track to redefine what a spy game can be.