The History of James Bond and His Many Games
The history, the behind-the-scenes drama, and the rules of a "young" Bond
From the 1980s into the 2000s, Bond games arrived with greater frequency than Bond films. From the first officially licensed game in 1983, the aptly titled James Bond 007, to 007 Legends in 2012, 25 Bond games hit store shelves. For context, the most recent James Bond film, No Time to Die, was the 25th film.
But since Activision released 007 Legends 14 years ago, we’ve been without a major new Bond game. That is, until the recent debut of 007 First Light. What happened? How did one of the most popular video game spinoffs go on a decade-and-a-half hiatus?
The answer has less to do with video games than it does with Bond and his owners. Well, previous owners. In the 2000s, under the careful oversight of Barbara Broccoli and her half-brother Michael G. Wilson, Bond was slowly adapted for modern sensibilities. Like the games, the film’s cadence slowed too. Alongside production, the pair began to reckon with a billionaire super villain worthy of their own, as Jeff Bezos’ Amazon worked to wrest control of the IP.
In 2025, following the controversial death of the Daniel Craig-era James Bond and years of behind-the-scenes drama, Amazon MGM acquired full control of the character.
007 First Light began development in one era of Bond, and is releasing within another. So before playing the new game, I wanted to learn more about these two stories of Bond, the evolution of the character, and the changing hands of his creative overseer.
Naturally, I contacted the most beloved James Bond fan on the planet, Matt Gourley, to hear about the hero’s history. And to learn more about the 007 First Light creative team’s vision for a modern James Bond, I spoke with the game’s Narrative and Cinematic Director, Martin Emborg.
The result is an episode that’s a bit different, not looking purely at games but the bigger cultural questions and machinations that influenced one big title’s creation.
This Week on Post Games:
Act 1: Everything You Need to Know about Bond
Act 2: Why Bond Games and Movies Have Become So Tough to Make
Patreon Bonus: A History of Bond Games in Five Titles
Act 3: 007 First Light’s Narrative Director on Creating a New Bond
Guests:
Matt Gourley: co-host of Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend, James Bondings, With Gourley & Rust, and many other great podcasts
Martin Emborg: Narrative and Cinematic Director, 007 First Light
On the Patreon for $5
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Act 1: Everything You Should Know about James Bond
James Bonding (Apple Podcasts)
Matt Gourley Tests Conan & Sona’s James Bond Knowledge | Conan O’Brien Needs A Friend (Team Coco on YouTube)
List of James Bond novels and short stories (Wiki)
Octopussy (JustWatch)
Bond, James Bond Ranked (James Bonding)
James Bond 007 | EVERY “BOND, JAMES BOND” (YouTube)
The Man with the Golden Gun (1/10) Movie CLIP - Meeting Andrea (1974) HD (Movieclips on YouTube)
JFK loved James Bond: How Ian Fleming’s spy novels influenced the CIA (Slate)
Tomorrow Never Dies (JustWatch)
Act 2: Why Bond Games and Movies Have Become So Tough to Make
Women want to be with him, men want to be him – and other phrases (James Bond Memes)
Covid: James Bond film No Time To Die delayed for third time (BBC)
Amazon Paid $20 Million for Control of James Bond, But There’s Fine Print That Isn’t Public (The Hollywood Reporter)
James Bond Auditions Have Officially Started, ‘Game of Thrones’ Casting Vet Nina Gold Tapped to Find Next 007 (Variety)
James Bond Auditions Are Officially Underway, and These Actors May Be at the Top of the List (Vanity Fair)
Callum Turner Goes Silent When Asked About James Bond (Vanity Fair)
Layer Cake (Letterboxd)
Remington Steele (IMDB)
Eon Productions (Wiki)
Young Bond (Wiki)
Denis Villeneuve (IMDB)
James Bond Jr (Full Episodes) (YouTube)
Eton College (Wiki)
r/JamesBond (Reddit)
The Spy Who Loved Me (C64 Longplay) (YouTube)
Sega Master System (Fandom)
Why were Sega Master System games made with a cheap cover? (Reddit)
Quantum of Solace review (Eurogamer)
James Bond 007: Blood Stone Review (GameSpot)
James Bond 007 (Game Boy) Review (Nintendo Life)
007 First Light Title Sequence – Lana Del Rey (IO Interactive on YouTube)
The Man with the Golden Gun Opening Title Sequence (YouTube)
Patreon Bonus: A History of Bond Games in Five Titles
Shaken But Not Stirred (Wiki)
GoldenEye 007 (GameSpot)
James Bond 007 for Game Boy (IGN)
007 Legends (IGN)
GoldenEye 007 on Switch (NME)
Act 3: 007 First Light’s Narrative Director on Creating a New Bond
007 First Light (Steam)
JAMES BOND | Casino Royale “Daniel Craig” Screen Test (YouTube)
Patrick Gibson (IMDB)
The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles (Wiki)
Solo: A Star Wars Story - How Han Got His Name (YouTube)
What’s Bonds body count? (r/JamesBond)
Michael G. Wilson (James Bond Wiki)
Licence to Kill Longplay (C64) [50 FPS] (YouTube)
This Week in Video Game Links
Mina the Hollower’s creators put “Game Genie cheats” in their Zelda Soulslike mashup (Mothership)
Mixed Up Tapes (Innerspiral)
Why Video Games Cost So Much To Make (Jason Schreier)
007 First Light In-Depth: The Big Digital Foundry Tech Review (Digital Foundry)
Extreme Strong Female Characters and the Transfem Gender Callus (NEET Ozma)
Call of Duty Modern Warfare 4 - Official Reveal Trailer (YouTube)
Free Game of the Week: Normal Golf Game demo
From its Steam summary: “Hazy memories. A $100,000 fee. No sign of an exit. Welcome to my Normal Golf Game. Well, the demo of it at least. This demo is the first 30 minutes(ish) of the full game. You only have access to the small area around the clubhouse, while in the full game, you eventually unlock access to a full 9-hole golf course.” (Steam via PCGamer)
What Else I’m Enjoying
Robert De Niro’s Closet Picks (Criterion)
The bubble is getting a lot bubblier, folks (Garbage Day)
Obsession (Letterboxd)
The Shout (Letterboxd)
Song of the Week: “The Man with the Golden Gun”
The audio isn’t included in the show for copyright reasons, but you can read the full lyrics on Genius.