Danish developer IO Interactive is most known for the hugely successful Hitman series, with the third installment in the reboot coming out at the start of this year to high praise. However, the company is taking a break from the stealth series, as a recent job posting showed that it was hiring new staff for its upcoming Project 007 game. Now, new information has surfaced which suggests this new title may be in third-person.
Looking more closely at the job ad, it seems as though IO Interactive are interested in hiring someone who has experience working on "3rd person action games" among other skills required by video game studios. There seems little doubt from reading this seemingly insignificant piece of information that Project 007 is likely to be in third person, in a similar vain to all the Hitman games. Although it does say that this skill is "desirable" rather than essential for the role, so at this stage, it's just speculations.
The advert, which is interested in looking specifically for someone skilled in AI programming, also reiterates what many already know about the new title, that Project 007 will be a completely original story. On top of this, in an interview a while back with IO CEO, Hakan Abrak, the studio will also not be using the likeness of any actor who's played James Bond in the past. In the interview, he said that he didn't want the team to be "hindered" by any restrictions that come with simply adapting one of the movies into a game.
Currently, not a huge amount is known about the new title. With Hitman on a temporary hiatus while IO work on Project 007, it suggests that the famous creators of stealth are keen to throw everything at this spy game. Given the studio's reputation in the past, it's entirely possible that this will be a stealthy James Bond game, especially given that it's possible it could be in a third-person view.
IO Interactive also opened a new studio in Barcelona earlier this year. Whether this is to accommodate the work that will go into Project 007 is unclear, but it does show that the team is growing all the time. With the job advert hinting at what type of viewpoint the game could potentially have, many will likely be already drawing comparisons between the British agent and Hitman's notorious Agent 47. Maybe their paths will cross in another future project.
Project 007 is currently being developed by IO Interactive.
Source: IO Interactive