007 First Light

IOI

Many of us grew up with Goldeneye 007 as one of the core games of our childhood, and perhaps we’re now seeing one for a new generation (and us old guys too). That would be 007 First Light, which was released this week, free of really any sort of controversy that plagues practically all new releases these days in an increasingly toxic gaming industry.

No political left-right debates about its content. No moaning about its review scores and wide differences between critics and audiences. Almost everyone just…loves it, and sales have reflected that. Developer IOI has just revealed that the game sold 1.5 million copies in 24 hours. That’s just under sales megahit Crimson Desert’s 2 million in the same time period. Other big games don’t have 24-hour sales data, but instead titles like Pokopia and Resident Evil Requiem report millions after a few weeks or so.

As for how it’s being received? 007 First Light has:

• An 87 Metacritic score from critics
• An identical 8.7 user score from players
• 91% “Very Positive” reviews on Steam
• 4.81/5 stars on PS5
• ~4.5/5 stars on Xbox

007 First Light is in effect a James Bond origin story, the young version of the character played by Patrick Gibson, whom many are now saying should be in the running for the currently sought-after real-life James Bond that will lead the next series of movies. He’s young, he’s charismatic, and he’s led this blockbuster game. Stranger things have happened.

The game blends action, intrigue and seduction in traditional Bond fashion. Its hand-to-hand combat has been especially praised for its hard-hitting physicality that few games echo.

Given this immediate success, it stands to reason a sequel to First Light could be in the cards. This is, of course, IO Interactive, which has developed eight Hitman games over the last 25 years.

As it stands, 007 First Light is tied for the sixth-highest-score game of 2026, though in second place for user score, behind only Resident Evil’s incredible 9.4/10. There is already chatter that First Light could be in contention for GOTY, though the field is increasingly crowded, with so many excellent releases even in this first half of the year.

If this momentum continues, we are likely to see more sales data come out soon, but for this game, in this context, you couldn’t do much better than that 1.5 million in 24 hours. It’s likely word will spread, and we’ll see this become a hit that is likely to spawn a full Bond franchise from here.

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Pick up my sci-fi novels the Herokiller series and The Earthborn Trilogy.