Future 007 games will be published by Amazon Games, despite IO's success with 007 First Light

Despite the massive success of IO Interactive’s 007 First Light, Amazon Games has seemingly confirmed that the company will now take over publishing duties for any future games featuring the James Bond IP.

The details:

• In a new interview with Polygon, Jeff Gattis, GM of Gaming at Amazon, revealed that despite not having direct involvement in First Light due to the acquisition of the 007 IP taking place after IO secured the deal, any new titles will be “done by MGM and, theoretically, by Amazon Game Studios." “We did not [make First Light],” Gattis explained. “We do have a stake in it because we now own the IP, but that IP acquisition happened after the First Light IO deal was already done.”
• However, this decision does not rule out IO’s future involvement with the iconic spy IP, as it could still be involved as the developer of future entries, especially a possible follow-up to First Light. IO would simply no longer self-publish the title, with those duties instead carried out by Amazon Games.
• Amazon has continued to push into gaming over the past decade with mixed results. Last year, it announced that it would be shutting down its internally developed MMORPG New World due to declining popularity but has continued to work with other studios, such as Crystal Dynamics, on new games, including two new Tomb Raider titles.