James Bond game 007 First Light has been delayed yet again on Nintendo Switch 2, and will now arrive in March 2027.
007 First Light was originally expected to land back in May this year on all platforms simultaneously. In April, however, Hitman developer IO Interactive announced a last-minute delay for the Switch 2 version, and stated it would now arrive this fall.
Well, that date has also now fallen through, with a further, lengthy delay until its new release window next March. In a statement posted to social media this morning, IO said it would provide an exact release date nearer the time.
007 First Light screenshots
“We know many of you have been looking forward to experiencing Bond’s reimagined origin story on Nintendo Switch 2, and we greatly appreciate your enthusiasm,” IO wrote. “To ensure we deliver the quality of experience players expect, we have made the decision to delay the release to March 2027, with the exact date to be communicated later. This additional time will go toward polishing the Nintendo Switch 2 performance of the game.
“We were thrilled by the positive feedback on 007 First Light at Gamescom, and it’s a great sign of the progress being made across the whole game as we head toward launch,” IO continued. “The same demo will be playable at Tokyo Game Show this week, so please join us there if you would like a hands-on experience.
“We will share further updates as soon as we are ready. Thank you for your patience, understanding, and continued support.”
For the majority of fans, popping over to Tokyo this week to try the Switch 2 version will likely seem a little excessive. And yet again, it’s unclear why the game’s Switch 2 version has been delayed relatively close to its expected release. If the game isn’t struggling technically, is this a decision made to launch the title when the console has a larger userbase? Is there are fear of arriving too close to GTA 6? And what are the trade-offs to waiting even longer, as hype for the game dies down? IO has not said.
IO announced the news today alongside a fresh update for First Light on PC, which adds path tracing and DLSS 4.5 Ray Reconstruction support, in a bid for even more impressive lighting, shadows and reflections. Other upcoming additions include a new story DLC centered around Bawama, the pirate king warlord played by Lenny Kravitz, plus additional TacSim challenges, a fresh gadget, New Game+, and a photo mode.
Since launch, the game has shifted a solid 4 million copies in three months, though IO itself has been rocked by layoffs as Microsoft pulled funding for its fantasy game project. There has also been confusion over what will become of First Light’s planned sequels following Amazon’s acquisition of the James Bond license.
“Demonstrably obsessed with bringing the Bond fantasy to life in a way no one has ever managed before, 007 First Light is the best Bond game I’ve ever played,” IGN wrote in our 007 First Light review, awarding the game a 009/10.
Tom Phillips
News Editor
Tom Phillips is IGN’s News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social