Joshua Robertson is a News Editor for TheGamer. When not writing about breaking news, community stories, or covering industry events, you can find him begging FromSoftware for a Bloodborne remaster.
As we approach the end of 2025, most of us will probably be looking into next year to see what exciting games we can expect to be playing. One of the most highly-anticipated by many is 007 First Light, an origin story for James Bond that looks far more Uncharted than anything developer IO Interactive has made before.
We’ve seen a lot of the game so far, as IO has managed to cram the game into almost every big gaming showcase it can, last appearing at The Game Awards to reveal that none other than Lenny Kravitz will be starring in the game. It was also here that the game’s March 27 release date was once again shared, but less than two weeks on, that date has now changed.
007 First Light Delayed To May 2026
In a statement on Twitter, IO Interactive CEO Hakan Abrak announced that 007 First Light will no longer release on March 27, and has been pushed back by a couple of months. Instead, the game will release on May 27, but before you go worrying about how the game’s development is coming along and fretting that this delay means the game is doomed, Abrak had a few words of reassurance.
In Amazon’s hands, James Bond can never be the cultural powerhouse he was as an independent star.
“The game is progressing well and is fully playable from beginning to end,” says Abrak. “So these additional two months will allow us to further polish and refine the experience, ensuring we deliver the strongest possible version at launch. We’re confident this sets up 007 First Light for long-term success, and we sincerely appreciate the patience and continued support we’ve received ever since we revealed the game. We look forward to sharing more updates regarding 007 First Light in early 2026.
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That’s good news for IO Interactive, who will more than likely be happy with the extra development time, but you have to wonder whether the game moving into GTA 6’s previous release window was intentional. It’s also interesting to wonder if 007 First Light would have been delayed at all if GTA 6 was planning to stick to its guns and release in May. We know that big studios are fearful of that absolute behemoth, so could this be the first of a few games that slightly shift their release date into the summer now GTA 6 has vacated?
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