007 First Light has been incredibly well-received and registered the highest review scores for a James Bond game since GoldenEye. It already seems likely we'll be seeing more of IO's Bond, but if and when we do, IO won't be the studio publishing the sequel.
Amazon gaming GM Jeff Gattis explained to Polygon that IO was able to self-publish First Light due to when the deal to make the Bond game was struck. IO dealt with MGM and EON Productions, either in 2020 when the game was first teased, or earlier. A year later, in 2021, Amazon acquired MGM, along with the rights to anything and everything pertaining to James Bond.
Talk about shooting your shot.
Gattis confirmed that Amazon had no hand in making First Light, although the company does now benefit from its success since it now owns the Bond IP. "We do have a stake in it because we now own the IP, but that IP acquisition happened after the First Light IO deal was already done," Gattis explains.
Amazon is likely benefiting quite a bit, too. IO confirmed that, in its first 24 hours, First Light sold 1.5 million copies. That's a lot of...
