Game development, more often than not, is a long and arduous process for the studios and teams working to bring these worlds and experiences to life in a way players can enjoy. It can be years between a game's announcement and final release where a game can go through multiple iterations before it finally sees the light of day, as Ubisoft's Skull and Bones can attest. IO Interactive appears to be in this very situation with at least two of their biggest upcoming titles, as a new financial report indicates it will be a few years until either project is seen by the public.
The financial report, in question, is from IO Interactive's recently published annual financial report for the 2021/2022 business year which ended this past March. Twitter user DarkDetective shared the pertinent part of the report speaking about IO Interactive's upcoming titles, the two biggest being Project Dragon and Project 007. In the report, IO Interactive touts a profitable year thanks, in part, to strong sales in 2021 following the release of HITMAN 3 and the title's inclusion on Xbox Game Pass.
It then shares the financial forecast for the next two years, which warns it could see a noticeable decrease in profits over the next two business years with no major releases scheduled. Instead, IO Interactive says its primary focus will be on game development for the aforementioned Project Dragon and Project 007, both of which are said to have "long production phases ahead."
While it isn't clear what Project Dragon is, Project 007 is IO Interactive's much-hyped take on the James Bond series and the first in a potential series of games. It will reportedly not use the likeness of any actors who have already played James Bond, instead being an entirely original take on Ian Fleming's iconic MI6 agent. IO executive Hakan Abrak hasn't been shy about touting the studio's ambitions with the game, either, and previously indicated the studio's staff of 200 will likely double by the time the game releases.
Project Dragon, on the other hand, remains a fairly secretive project for IO Interactive but it is believed to be no less ambitious. Previous reports from insiders such as WindowsCentral suggest the game is set to be a massive fantasy-RPG IO is developing in partnership with Xbox. On top of that, it is suggested the game could have a 10-year content support plan, akin to Bungie's plans for Destiny, though as of this writing, nothing has been confirmed.
Project Dragon and Project 007 are currently in development.