Hakan Abrak, CEO of IO Interactive: “We want to immerse you in the fantasy of being James Bond.”

After a significant workforce cut, the studio used its renewed independence to devise a plan that would return the Hitman saga to the top. So much so that by 2025, this Copenhagen-based studio will employ more than 500 people and have divisions in four cities (Barcelona, Brighton, Istanbul, and Malmö). They are currently working on new Agent 47 adventures, a yet-to-be-revealed fantasy blockbuster, and what has been their biggest project for years: the return of James Bond to the world of video games.

Recently, IO Interactive showed the first trailer for 007 First Light , the new adventure of the agent in the service of Her Majesty, expected to go on sale in 2026, and the reaction from fans has been enthusiastic. La Vanguardia had the opportunity to interview Hakan Abrak via videoconference to delve deeper into the new video game foray of agent James Bond.

Is your experience with Hitman helping you develop 007 First Light?

Of course, after twenty-five years working on games that revolve around the secret agent fantasy, it's obvious that we've learned many lessons that we're going to implement in this new 007. We want to take what we learned with Agent 47 to a title that goes beyond shooting and action: offering the complete Bond experience.

What is this secret agent fantasy based on?

It's all about traveling around the world, and for that, we need environments that feel alive and breathing. I think we've succeeded in creating these cities and locations in Hitman . It's also essential to recreate hyper-VIP locations, those exclusive places that mere mortals aren't used to visiting. Playing this fantasy, experiencing things many of us can't even imagine, is very interesting.

After 25 years working on secret agent fantasy video games, we've learned many lessons for this new 007. Hakan Abrak, CEO of IO Interactive

He stressed that they want to go beyond shooting and action.

Indeed, because despite being very good at fighting, shooting, and driving in a chase, Bond can also be charming, manipulative, and convincing. At IO Interactive, we're very good at creating spaces for social fantasy. We've designed a game in which you can play this character who's good at overcoming obstacles not only with weapons, but also with his words, his wit, and his charm.

And what about stealth?

Obviously, we also have a lot of experience with stealth. We've created sophisticated AI that makes the game environment react in interesting ways to Bond's use of gadgets, which will also be very important.

James Bond has been a controversial character for years. How have you updated him?

I think it's extremely important to reflect the times we live in, and the Bond franchise has been very good at this: it's allowed this character to evolve and remain relevant. Different Bonds have represented the times they lived in in different ways. For example, Pierce Brosnan played the character in the context of the end of the Cold War, while Daniel Craig represented a more masculine dimension.

In our game, Bond is young, unfamiliar with elegance, tuxedos, and martinis. He's a diamond in the rough. At the beginning of the story, he's not even a 00 agent, and he's introduced to this harsh world of intrigue and espionage. To create an interesting Bond, it's important to have courage, to know how to capture the current moment, to ensure he's not flat, to have character and perspective.

Our Bond is young, not yet familiar with elegance, tuxedos and martinis: he is a diamond in the rough. Hakan Abrak, CEO of IO Interactive

Bond is not as cold a character as Agent 47.

It's true that many of the games we've developed, like Hitman or Kane & Lynch , feature very different heroes than usual. In fact, they're anti-heroes. Bond, on the other hand, is a gentleman. A hero in an aspirational world. We now have a proactive, talkative protagonist, very different from the silent assassin we've worked with in recent years. Correctly recreating his evolution is more difficult.

A few weeks ago, I saw Borja Pavón, one of the most popular content creators in Spain and a huge James Bond fan, react very positively to the game's trailer. He highlighted details like the scar on the protagonist's cheek, which reveals that they also took Ian Fleming's original books into account.

That's right, we've taken the original material that preceded the films into great consideration. I hope he and all the fans of the character are satisfied with the work we're doing.

Do you have the license to do whatever you want with the character?

I don't think anyone has the license to do whatever they want with a character! This is our first licensed game—we've created five original licenses and are working on a sixth set in a fantasy world—but it's very important for us to bring something of our own, to offer an original and independent story, something that has never been done with this character in video games before. We're very grateful for the trust they've given us to explore the franchise. This is a very important intellectual property, so it's a responsibility to be respectful of the spirit and ethos of Bond.

For us it is important to offer an original and independent story, something that has never been done with this character in video games. Hakan Abrak, CEO of IO Interactive

Do you think the character of James Bond has been well represented in video games?

Well... Over the years, the different eras of the character have been represented... But it's been fourteen years since the last time there was a great 007 video game. I think it's just a matter of time before we have a great Bond game, but also an original one, one that captures his essence and isn't based on a story that's already been seen in a movie.

Can 007 First Light be considered a Triple A project [the equivalent in the video game world of a blockbuster]?

Without a doubt! It's by far the most ambitious production we've worked on in terms of crew size and production costs. We've applied everything we've learned with our graphics engine here. It's extremely important to deliver a 360-degree Bond experience that's as cutting-edge as possible, with seamless transitions between action, exploration, stealth, tactical approach, plan development... And also interesting vehicle technology, since, in addition to the Aston Martin seen in the trailer, we'll have more exotic vehicles for Bond to drive.

In recent years , the continued existence of the AAA production model has been called into question due to its high time and production costs. Do you think it's a model that still makes sense?

Absolutely. I don't think most video game enthusiasts wake up in the morning and say they want to play a simple card game. I still believe in the need for immersive experiences. I'm aware that the video game industry as a whole is maturing after the coronavirus, but I also believe it's extremely resilient and has a very healthy future.

IO Barcelona is involved in the new James Bond game, Hitman, and our new fantasy project. Hakan Abrak, CEO of IO Interactive

IO Interactive is headquartered in Copenhagen, but works very closely with its various divisions in Barcelona, Brighton, Istanbul, and Malmö. How do you approach this collaboration between studios?

We work differently than other developers with a multi-studio structure. Basically, we don't have elite studios or support studios. It's very important to me that our projects are central to all our studios, and that's why we work cross-functionally on all projects. For example, on Hitman 3, the game director worked from Malmö and the executive producer from Copenhagen. Our mantra is talent, no matter where we work, and that determines the roles of each team member.

What is IOI Barcelona's involvement in 007 First Light ?

I have a little anecdote about the Barcelona studio. When we opened our second division in Malmö, we thought about opening more to reach more talent. There were many candidate cities, and Barcelona was one we had on our radar. The reason was that one of our most beloved team members, after many years working here, wanted to return to Barcelona to be closer to his family. He was so good that we built the studio around him. All of our studios—except the one in Brighton—have started with one person and grown from there. This is our philosophy, and the one in Barcelona has been a resounding success. What we do is integrate our values into our studios, and then, at the local level, they themselves put their personal stamp on it.

Is this employee you mention Eduard López Plans ?

Yes! In fact, now that you mention Eduard, one of the things he's done over the years is collect a lot of consoles and arcade machines. When you enter the studio, with all those consoles and games, you can recognize the attachment he has to this medium; you enter a world of video games; they're part of the studio's spirit. I think that tells you a lot about how focused they are on gameplay at IOI Barcelona.

So, what areas of development are you specifically focusing on at IOI Barcelona?

In Barcelona, they work in many areas, both on 007, such as the Fantasy Project, and on Hitman . For example, in this studio, we have very good engineers who are dedicated to our technology, the Glacier graphics engine.

'MindsEye' has not been the launch we expected Hakan Abrak, CEO of IO Interactive

IO Interactive has experienced a tremendous revival in recent years. What has this recovery journey been like?

These past ten years have been our journey to independence. In 2017, we bought the company from management. At the time, we had 170 employees and had to cut staff to 100. Those were very difficult times. We had to make such tough decisions without knowing if IO would survive. We took that risk because we had a very clear vision of what we wanted to do with Hitman . We not only survived, but thrived, creating Hitman 2 with a small publishing deal with Warner Bros., and Hitman 3 , not only to produce it but also to publish it ourselves. This journey has brought us to a point where I feel our fans are happier than ever with our beloved franchise.

Today they are a studio capable of tackling several developments at the same time.

That's right, it's not only been a creative success, but also a financial one, allowing us to expand and venture into something extremely challenging and ambitious: being a multi-development studio. Growing from 100 to 500 employees, as well as handling the new Bond game—and seeing the reception the trailer has received—has been very satisfying and rewarding. While it wasn't always all rosy, there have been challenging times too. Having an unwavering belief in ourselves has led IO to be stronger than ever creatively and commercially.

As a result of this growth, IO Interactive has released MindsEye , a game that has arrived in stores in a deplorable state. What happened?

Yes, it's obviously been a difficult launch and an equally difficult reception. Our involvement as partners has consisted of helping the studio distribute the game. We're there to help them in any way possible, and we know they're working hard to try to fix the issues that arose after launch. They've already released several patches and are working on larger updates to further improve the game and, obviously, to regain player confidence. It wasn't the launch we hoped for, but we know how hard they're working and how seriously they take this. We'll do everything we can to help them with the distribution of these patches and the game in the future.