007 First Light’s Free DLC Is Full of Requested Features

October 1, 2026, 2:02pm

Developer IO Interactive found great success with the recent Hitman trilogy that has been going on for over a decade, showing that live service games can thrive if done thoughtfully and with restraint. The studio noted it would be taking a similar approach with the highly regarded 007 First Light and had planned to support the game for some time. Said support has been slow to get going, though, as it has gone months without a meaningful update. However, that has just changed with a new patch — dubbed “Extended Operations” — that contains a fair bit of features players have been looking forward to. And it’s all free, too.

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As described in the official patch notes, this free DLC has five main areas of focus: New Game Plus, 00 difficulty, photo mode, new suits, and a few combat enhancements. New Game Plus is exactly what it sounds like in some respects — players will be able to play the game again with upgraded gear — but it goes beyond that here. It is now possible to wear any suit in any mission and swap gadgets without needing to be back at base, however, the gadget pool will be limited to the ones that have been unlocked by that point in the story. The photo mode is fairly typical and lets players freeze time to snap pictures, but it has a few more advanced features like custom lighting positioning and the ability to pose and rotate Bond.

00 difficulty is the new hardest difficulty in the game. Instead of just buffing the health values, IOI has taken more steps to ensure players are actually playing skillfully. Counter and dodge windows are tighter, agency gains are smaller, enemies spot Bond (and dead bodies) faster, some guards have been swapped out for stronger variants, gadgets can’t always be used in a guard’s line of sight (no more lasering a target’s eyes right in front of them, it seems), and it’s harder to refill gadgets. This seemingly brutal mode will unlock after rolling credits.

TacSim, its replayable challenge mode, has seen plenty of updates, as well. For one, the Valhalla Protocol mission that has been teased on the game’s main menu since launch is finally out. It lets players take the wheel of the Aston Martin Valhalla and blow up targets in Slovakia over four different mission variants. The Jungle Heist mission puts players back in Vietnam and tasks them with stealing documents. There’s also a new shotgun and rifle to unlock, as well as four new skins (one of which is a Twitch Drop, though). These should be handy for those playing New Game Plus, given its ability to let players swap outfits.

In addition to a ton of bug fixes, IOI said it also improved weapon animations, meaning reloading, aiming transitions, weapon swapping, and weapon throwing should “look and feel smoother and more responsive.” Bond can also be thrown off ledges, and, since he can do the same to enemies, IOI stated that this “seemed only fair.” The TacSim area even now has a new bulldog named Jack the Bulldog that players can pet, a reward for a high number of wishlists.

IOI Is Not Done With 007 First Light

This beefy first DLC drop is not all IOI has in store for First Light. Just after launch, the developer laid out a roadmap of the game’s first year of support. Some of those features were added in this update like New Game Plus, the wishlist milestone, photo mode, and new TacSim challenges, but not every feature from that list has come to pass. The new G2 Glasses gadget, Nintendo Switch 2 port, James Bond Day reward (which is October 5th), and drop featuring Bawma — the oft-criticized character portrayed by singer Lenny Kravitz — have yet to come out.

Aside from James Bond Day being relatively soon, it’s unclear when those other features will be released. The Switch 2 port was recently delayed to March 2027, so those looking to play this title on Nintendo’s handheld console will have to wait. But the new gadget and Bawma DLC still have no release window.

IOI has also specifically called its roadmap “Year One,” heavily implying there’s more to come. Chief development officer Véronique Lallier also noted just after the game’s release that “launching the game was just the beginning,” a sentiment echoed in other interviews.

Will you get jumping back into 007 First Light? And are you going to give Jack the Bulldog a few pats on the head? Tell us in the comments.