The latest financial report from IO Interactive, the developers of the Hitman series, suggests that its new James Bond game codenamed Project 007 may not release before 2025. This may also apply to another game in the works codenamed Project Dragon, a fantasy RPG that could be an Xbox exclusive. While Project 007 was revealed in November 2020, no official release date or window for the game has been set since then.
IO Interactive’s financial report expects “long production phases” for upcoming games
Near the middle of the developer’s annual report for 2021-22 (as spotted by DarkDetective on Twitter), a management review paints a sobering but realistic outlook for the next few years for the company:
“We had a couple of years with solid revenue and profits, due to the launch of a title. There is a risk the next couple of calendar years, the EBITDA and profits will drop. This is due to long production phases ahead, before the next releases hit the market. More precisely fiscal 24 and 25 estimates show a significant decrease.”
To parse this, IO Interactive anticipates lower revenue for both Fiscal Year 2024 and 2025, which ends on March 25, 2025. It would be higher if the games it’s working on, including Project 007 and Project Dragon, were released during this time, but that’s not the current projection. So from the developer’s standpoint, both of these games may not see an official release until 2025.
Hopefully, IO Interactive will be able to weather the long production cycles for both games, especially Project 007 since it looks like a fantastic marriage between the Hitman gameplay and an iconic agent. According to the game’s official website, it will feature a James Bond origin story, revealing how the secret agent earned his 00 status. The last main console game featuring James Bond was Activision’s 007 Legends first released on October 2012, so we’ve been waiting for a new full-fledged Bond game for over a decade. So waiting a few more years to make sure IO Interactive makes Project 007 the best game it can be isn’t too hard of an ask.
In other news, the Facebook gaming app is shutting down soon, and the Pokemon Go Season of Light features the debut of the legendary Cosmog.
