[exclusive] "We Don't Want A Doll, We Want A Human": Inside IO's Plan For A New 007

The studio that perfected the silent assassin is now tackling the world's most famous spy. I sat down with Franchise Art Director Rasmus Poulsen to find out how they’re building a Bond for a new generation, from the ground up.

On paper, IO Interactive and James Bond is a match made in heaven. You've got a studio that excels at intricate, sandbox level design and a character who thrives in those exact environments. You've got a developer famous for social stealth and a spy whose job is to blend in before things inevitably explode. It all lines up perfectly. But there's one massive hurdle: can the studio that created the ultimate silent assassin successfully build a game around a hero defined by his charm and explosive personality?

During a rare break at Gamescom, I got the chance to sit down with Rasmus Poulsen, the Franchise Art Director for the upcoming 007: First Light, to get some answers. I found a team acutely aware of the challenge, who are diving deep into the 60-year history of the character to build their own, unique version of the iconic spy. They're crafting a Bond who is younger, rawer, and pointedly not just another pretty face.

"He's Not a Doll"

The first and most important question I had was simple: who the hell is their James Bond? With 60 years of conflicting movies, books, and public perception, you can't just throw a dart at a board. IO's answer was to go back to the very beginning.

"We looked at the 60-year franchise iconography... we looked at each actor's portrayal of him and we looked specifically and detailedly at the descriptions by Fleming in the book," Poulsen explained. He pointed to the obvious, like the signature facial scar, but also the deeper, more subtle details from the novels. "The book refers to his cold eyes and sort of a thing about his demeanor."

That single observation became a core pillar of their entire design. "The thing we then took from that was that traditionally handsome is not something we want," Poulsen stated flatly.

He was adamant on this point. "We don't want a doll, we want a human, you know, somebody that feels like a person. And we do that by making him not too pretty."

It's a smart move. As Poulsen sees it, by grounding Bond with a more realistic, imperfect look, it "allows you to better believe in the character that he brings, namely his personality, his flavor, the sharp British wit, the quips, the humor and how he carries himself, because of course, he's a cool cat."

Flipping the Hitman Script

So, how does a studio shed the skin of Agent 47, an "agent of chaos," who kills 50 people before lunch, to embody a hero like Bond? According to Poulsen, it meant turning their entire design philosophy upside down.

"Bond is a hero," he said, contrasting him with their past work. "That means that everything is turned upside down, actually. So even though the mechanics... in how you engage with the world are very similar, there is that huge differentiation of Bond as a character. Would Bond do this as a character? And then, secondly, would he be allowed to by his masters, ie MI6?".

This internal debate has led to a fascinating gameplay system built around what Poulsen calls "a fitting level of resistance." The way you can interact with the world escalates based on the threat you're facing. You start with social manipulation, charm, and eavesdropping. From there you can move to gadgets, fisticuffs, and finally, firearms.

The key is that the enemy dictates your response. "It's the enemy's reaction to you that decides what grade of resistance you are allowed to give them," Poulsen explained. "When the enemy shoots at you it's on. Guns blazing, gloves are off".

The Scars You Can (And Can't) See

Since First Light is an origin story, a huge part of the narrative is watching this explosive, reactive young agent evolve into the well-calculated professional we all know. I asked Poulsen how they plan to show that journey visually, beyond just simple cutscenes.

Mechanically, he explained, Bond's skills will evolve with the player. His gunplay, combat abilities, and of course, his gadgets will become more advanced throughout the game "to fit your readiness to use them in the field". But when I pressed him on whether we'd see this brutal journey reflected physically on Bond's face with, say, more scars, dark circles under his eyes, or even just messy hair, Poulsen became coy.

He gave me a PR-trained smile. "I would say we have a lot of attention on the scar and let's leave it at that for this time". It was a tantalizing non-answer that suggests the physical toll of the job will be a story the game is very interested in telling.

"You Can't Please Everybody"

Tackling a 60-year-old icon with a dozen different interpretations is a creative minefield. No matter what choices you make, someone is going to be angry. Poulsen and his team are well aware of this, and their approach is one of quiet confidence.

"We asked ourselves what are the core Bond values from a character point of view? Well, he has dry wit, he's a man of action... and he has that interplay between the warmth and the charm and the brutal coldness," he said. "What you see before you now is our expression of what that value is today".

When I asked how they plan to handle the inevitable criticism from bond fans and gamers in general, his answer was direct. "I don't think you can necessarily please everybody and I don't think you should necessarily try to do that," he stated. He expressed immense faith in his team's process of debating every choice and going back to Ian Fleming's source material to extract the character's core DNA. They have a vision, and they're sticking to it.

Building a Face That Feels

A huge part of realizing that vision comes down to technology. A modern Bond story needs to deliver emotional nuance, something that wasn't possible in the polygonal days of GoldenEye. "You can't do a Bond adventure without feeling things," Poulsen admitted, "and you can't really feel things without great facial capture and models and you know wrinkle and muscle systems and all these things".

He was candid that this was a new frontier for IO Interactive, a studio known for a protagonist who barely emotes. "It's a new thing for us, right. So you can imagine the effort it is to learn into this area... we've had to grow as a company to be able to pull this off".

After speaking with Poulsen, it’s clear IO Interactive has done more than just slap a James Bond skin on their Hitman engine. They've gone back to the source material to build a younger, rawer, and more human version of the character. They're telling an origin story that's as much about his internal journey as it is about the action. It's an ambitious, risky take on one of pop culture's most enduring icons, and from the sound of it, they're tackling it with a confidence that would make Bond himself proud.