Six days from launch, zero reviews published, no public gameplay in players’ hands — and IO Interactive’s 007 First Light is already the #10 best-selling game on Steam. At $69.99. Full AAA price. No discounts, no bundles, no nostalgia remaster to lean on.

Just a studio’s reputation and a license to kill.

IO Interactive built its name on the World of Assassination trilogy — three games that turned stealth action into a sandbox of creative mayhem, with meticulous level design and genuine replayability. Now the same studio is taking on James Bond, and the market is placing its bets before seeing a single finished playthrough.

The Steam listing describes an origin story: a young, reckless Bond working through MI6’s training programme. Patrick Gibson (The OA, Dexter: Original Sin) plays the rookie 007. Lenny Kravitz is the villain. IO has also teased a “Tactical Simulation” mode — replayable missions with scoring, leaderboards, and XP. That’s Hitman DNA spliced straight into the franchise.

IO originally planned a March release before delaying to May 27 for polish, calling the game “fully playable from beginning to end” but needing work to deliver “the strongest possible version at launch,” according to Engadget. A two-month delay for quality control is exactly the kind of move that earns preorder confidence.

And players are backing that confidence with cash. Preorders currently include a free Deluxe Edition upgrade — 24-hour early access plus cosmetics like outfit skins and weapon finishes. No story content locked behind a paywall. Smart structure from a studio that knows its audience.

The last Bond game anyone remembers fondly is GoldenEye. That was 1997. IO Interactive has the track record to break that drought — and Steam’s charts prove plenty of players are willing to gamble on it.

Sources