Treyarch doing Bond game

By Games Industry.biz Published 17 July, 2006

Next-gen mooted.

Treyarch is working on Activision's first James Bond game, the publisher has confirmed.

The news came by way of a job posting, seeking a "gameplay designer" for what Treyarch describes as its "upcoming Bond title". Activision has since verified that the advert is genuine.

The job posting also indicates that the game will be targeted at next-generation formats.

The game is likely based on the forthcoming Casino Royale film, which will be actor Daniel Craig's first turn as the fictional British spy following Pierce Brosnan's decision to give up the role. The film is due out in the run-up to Christmas.

Activision announced that it had acquired the James Bond licence at the start of May. The deal with MGM Interactive and EON Productions gives Activision the right to develop and publish games based on the James Bond film licence until 2014, and is reputedly worth $70 million.

However, apart from a provocative "007" logo on display at E3 this year, the publisher has so far kept its mouth shut about Bond.

The news that Treyarch will be handling the publisher's first foray into the world of the British super-spy is hardly surprising though, as the developer's stock has grown considerably in recent years thanks to the likes of Call of Duty 2: Big Red One and Ultimate Spider-Man.

Treyarch is currently developing Call of Duty 3 for Activision.

The most James Bond games have been developed by Electronic Arts, but a series of high profile critical failures - including the universally panned GoldenEye: Rogue Agent - are thought to have led MGM and EON to reconsider their partnership.

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Comments (19) Latest comment 6 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • riz23 #1 6 years ago

    I thought they paid more in the region of $90 Million? I also thought EA chose not to renew the licence rather than have it taken away from them. Bond is dying as both a film & gaming franchise. Who gives a toss about a new bond game regardless of who makes it?

  • Blerk #2 6 years ago

    I give a... no, wait. Sorry. I don't.

  • AcidSnake #3 6 years ago

    Remember your first advance along the dam?
    That meaty rumble of the KF7 soviet?
    The sniper rifle?..

    How I long for those days...
    An actual worthwhile Bond game that was...

  • the_dudefather #4 6 years ago

    even if they did make an awesome next gen bond game with a great single player mode, endless online fun and tons of replayability, no-one would actualy come out and say "its better than/as good as goldeneye"

  • The_Foo_Fighter #5 6 years ago

    Given that many gamers seem happy to fork out for updated versions of classics (Frogger, anyone?), wouldn't it be awesome if GoldenEye was released on Live?

    I don't care if they leave it as it was or add some polish to the graphics - I just want to play that mofo online. Never gonna happen, sadly.

  • Razzajazz #6 6 years ago

    I'm glad that people are no longer resting on their laurels when it comes to stuff like this. What with the Driver franchise leaving Atari as well, this can only be a good thing.

    Admittedly, the new Tomb Raider game was not the most amazing game ever, but it certainly benefitted from not being done by Core Design again.

    And it's probably true, no-one will ever say this game is better than Goldeneye, but as long as they attempt to exorcise the hideousness of EA's stabs at it, I wish them well!

  • Freek #7 6 years ago

    Allot of FPS' are better then Goldeney, the genre has moved on. Goes that way for allot of classic games. They set a benchmark once upon a time but things progress.
    For a Bond game to reach Goldeneye status it would once again need to raise the bar in some way to atain classic status.

  • Steroyd #8 6 years ago

    Given that many gamers seem happy to fork out for updated versions of classics (Frogger, anyone?), wouldn't it be awesome if GoldenEye was released on Live?

    Wouldn't Goldeneye exceed the specs of what is allowed on XBLA?

    Well it's grabbed from EA so like the Driver franchise all i can sing is...

    "The only way is up"

  • pjmaybe #9 6 years ago

    yay - more bond FPS blandness ahoy.

    Peej

  • Hmmm #10 6 years ago

    Pierce Brosnan had the role taken away from him - he didn't give it up. He went on record saying he was disappointed not to make at least one more Bond movie before he was given the push.

  • salvadorlimones #11 6 years ago

    just what the gaming industry needed. another prefabric game. i really believe that these guys have a big black notebook of all the movies+comic books that can be turned into games.

  • coojam #12 6 years ago

    I'm a big Bond fan and actually really enjoyed a lot of the EA Bond games (Well, Nightfire and especially Everything or Nothing) as they capture a lot of the suave and style Bond represents. Sure they weren't brilliant games, but I was after a Bond experience, and that's what they provided. In fairness, I haven't played From Russia With Love as it's supposed to be tosh, and I refused to even sniff Goldeneye RA as I loved the original so much, but the premise of the game I felt seemed really good. Shoulda just called it Rogue Agent.

  • Triggerhappytel #13 6 years ago

    "Bond is dying as both a film & gaming franchise." - riz23

    As a gaming franchise, yes. As a film franchise, no. The last movie, Die Another Day, was the highest-grossing Bond movie ever.

    And what is it with Treyarch? Are they developing *every* upcoming Activision game, or what?!!

  • Cyclone #14 6 years ago

    I'm quite happy to see Treyarch developing this. I really loved the first Spider-Man game on the original Playstation. This could well be the best Bond game since Goldeneye on the N64. Not that that would be too great on an accomplishment. Still the prospect of a Bond game turning out to be genuinely good, and not average or crap is a mildly exciting one.

  • riz23 #15 6 years ago

    "The last movie, Die Another Day, was the highest-grossing Bond movie ever." Surely that's a slightly misleading statistic. Highest grossing perhaps. It costs a lot more to enter a cinema in 2002, than say 1962 for Dr.No. What about profit? Which Bond film made the most money (in real terms)? I bet it was one made thirty years ago.

  • asphaltcowboy #16 6 years ago

    Well, after the abomination that was Die Another Day, I can't wait for Casino Royale... looks like it's gonna be a bit grittier, a little less gadgety and like Bond is gonna get down and dirty with his fists and a gun, rather than using some completely ridiculous instrument of fiction to remove all traces of danger and tension.

    Hopefully this film will do for Bond what the new Batman did for... Batman.

  • chupachups #17 6 years ago

    "I also thought EA chose not to renew the licence rather than have it taken away from them."

    That's what EA said after they lost the licence, so it's up to you to decide whether they were lying or not.

    Whatever you think of the latest Bond films (I hate them personally) the last film made half a billion dollars and so did the ones just before them, so it's not like their artistic content really matters. They're a big name so they sell games.

  • Hunam85 #18 6 years ago

    And we all live in the naive hope that we get a goldeneye beater...

  • Universal_Hamster #19 6 years ago

    Actually, the FPS genre has not moved on since Goldeneye. It is a genre about shotting people. Goldeneye made shooting people more fun than anything. And still hasnt been bettered. Im sick of enemies not reacting when shot.