Bond games have had a rough few decades. For every GoldenEye, there have been years of silence, misfires, and franchise neglect. 007 First Light just changed that conversation in the most emphatic way possible.
The game is the first major James Bond video game in more than a decade, arriving nearly 30 years after GoldenEye 007 on the Nintendo 64. Developed by IO Interactive, the Danish studio behind the acclaimed Hitman series, it had everything going for it on paper. The sales numbers confirm the execution matched the promise.
IO Interactive Just Delivered the Bond Game Fans Have Been Waiting For
007 First Light sold an estimated 2.2 million copies across all platforms in its first week, clearing 1.5 million units within its first 24 hours alone. According to industry analyst Rhys Elliott at Alinea Analytics, the game has already generated roughly $150 million in revenue, selling over one million copies on PS5 in May alone and becoming the month’s top PlayStation 5 title.
The platform split is worth noting, too. PS5 accounts for 55.1% of units sold, Steam for 33.1%, and Xbox for 11.8%. The PC performance is particularly strong, with Chinese players accounting for over 17% of Steam sales, partly due to regional pricing, pointing to a genuine global appetite for the Bond franchise.
The critical reception tells the same story. 007 First Light currently holds an 89 on OpenCritic and an 88 on Metacritic, making it the highest-rated Bond game since GoldenEye’s near-perfect 96. For context, that puts it ahead of Everything or Nothing, long considered one of the better entries in the franchise, which settled at an 83.
Unlike GoldenEye, First Light is a third-person, purely single-player game that tells an original story rather than adapting a film. Irish actor Patrick Gibson plays a young, rookie Bond, and the origin story framing gives IO Interactive room to build something that feels genuinely theirs rather than a licensed retread.
The only cloud on the horizon involves what comes next. Amazon, which owns MGM and therefore the Bond rights, has signaled it would prefer to keep any sequels in-house, complicating the path forward for IO Interactive despite the commercial success. The studio self-published First Light under a deal that predates Amazon’s MGM acquisition, meaning the rights situation for a follow-up remains unresolved.
For now, though, the numbers speak clearly. Bond gaming is back, and 007 First Light has set a bar that will be difficult to ignore.
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