007 First Light delayed further into 2026

On Tuesday, IO Interactive announced it’s delaying 2026’s young James Bond game, 007 First Light, by a couple of months. Originally intended for release on March 27, 2026, players will now have to wait until May 27, 2026, to get their license to kill as the U.K.’s most famous secret agent.

Hey, it was a crowded month for new video game releases anyway.

“As an independent developer and publisher, this decision allows us to ensure the experience meets the level of quality you players deserve on day one,” Hakan Abrak, CEO of IO Interactive, said in a statement posted across social media. IO Interactive notes the delay will “allow us to further polish and refine the experience, ensuring we deliver the strongest possible version at launch.” You can read the full statement below.

Just a few months ago, delaying a game into May 2026 would have been a fool’s errand, because Grand Theft Auto 6 was slated to launch that month. Now, with GTA 6 instead arriving Nov. 19, 2026, IO Interactive (and anyone else putting a game out next spring) can breathe a little easier.

007 First Light follows a young and green James Bond in what IO Interactive describes as an original origin story for the character, played by Dexter: Original Sin‘s Patrick Gibson. Expect to meet new versions of familiar faces like M and Q, as well as original characters, like the villain played by Lenny Kravitz.

007 First Light is out next May for Nintendo Switch 2, PlayStation 5, Windows PC, and Xbox Series X.