IO Interactive is being handed the reigns to the James Bond IP to make a video-game all about the suave womanizer with a... questionable history that stretches back as far as the 50s, but IO is giving its own unique take rather than adapting Craig, Moore, Connery, or whoever else. But, is IO ready? The short of it - no.
The company was open about as much, but it intends to expand so that it can be ready for James Bond. For context, it became independent in 2017 while also keeping the Hitman and Freedom Fighter franchises. As of writing this, it employs around 200 employees and, naturally, IO has other IPs beyond Bond to work on, so not all can be dedicated to the British spy.
As such, IO Interactive is looking to expand its staff from 200 to 400 by opening another studio in Sweden. There's a lot hitching on this given that Bond has been, in essence, banned from video-games due to the squeamishness toward excessive violence from the IP holders with the last one being in 2012. This was an FPS centered around Daniel's Craig take from Activision called 007 Legends.
IO Interactive director Hakan Abrak revealed, "It's very, very special - a boy's dream. Sometimes it's still a little hard to understand that it's us [making] James Bond." According to Danish website DR, IO Interactive isn't just pining after a singular entry - the word trilogy is on everyone's minds after all - but they are aiming to build a James Bond universe.
"Today we [have] 200 employees and I expect that we will [have] over 400 employees over the next few years. So, there is no doubt that the Bond agreement means an insane amount to us."
IO Interactive's James Bond game is still years away, but if the excitement of the director himself is anything to go by, it should be in safe hands, especially given that it garnered the approval of MGM and EON Productions, the two who have been notoriously hard to pitch a Bond game to.