Project 007 Release Date May Still Be Years Away

IO Interactive's Project 007 may still be several years away from releasing, if the company's recent earnings report is anything to go by. IO Interactive quickly became one of the most beloved developers out there over the last decade due to its reimagining of the Hitman series. The developer released three new games in the series with plentiful post-launch support, making each one a bang for the player's buck. Not only that, but the games were a masterclass in level design and could be replayed numerous times before players would see all of the possible outcomes. Naturally, the developer's ability to create a big stealth game with gadgets, disguises, and exotic locations made them an obvious choice to lead a new James Bond game. At the end of 2020, IO Interactive announced Project 007 was its next game and sadly, it may be a while before we play it.

As spotted by Twitter user DarkDetectiveNL (via Reddit), IO Interactive released its earnings report and although it seems pretty normal, the developer had some interesting projections for the next few years. After noting its last couple of years have been solid due to the launch of Hitman 3, IO Interactive stated it expects profits to drop over the next few years, particularly fiscal years 2024 and 2025. The developer cited "long production phases ahead" before its next games release, suggesting IO Interactive will be rather quiet for the imminent future. As it stands, it seems like IO Interactive doesn't expect Project 007 to release until after March 2025. Of course, it's worth stressing that this is purely speculative and the developer didn't offer release windows or name future titles in regards to this projection. 

IO Interactive has published its Annual Report 2021/22 (year ending 31st March 2022).

Revenue came in at DKK 538m (~$72.4m), +7% YoY, more than 2x management expectations. Mostly thanks to a Xbox Game Pass deal.

Looking into mobile dev.

Project 007 scheduled after March 2025? pic.twitter.com/JlnZ5J4kyJ

— DarkDetective (@DarkDetectiveNL) August 31, 2022

However, given James Bond's latest big screen outing, No Time to Die, made $774 million at the box office, it would be shocking if the game released and didn't rake in huge profits that IO could see coming from a mile away. Hopefully, we'll get an update on Project 007 sooner rather than later, as we haven't heard a peep about it since its initial reveal. It seems that IO Interactive announced the game's development shortly after the rights, which means it's still likely in the early stages of development.

Are you excited for Project 007? Let me know in the comments or hit me up on Twitter @Cade_Onder.