007 First Light Delayed to GTA 6's Old Release Date

IO Interactive has pushed 007 First Light back by two months to 27 May 2026. The new date lands right next to GTA 6’s old May window, after Rockstar moved GTA 6 to November 2026.

007 First Light delayed to May 2026 (GTA 6 slot)

IO Interactive has pushed 007 First Light back by two months. It now lands on 27 May 2026. The funny part: that’s almost the exact window Rockstar used to own, back when GTA 6 was set for 26 May 2026. Rockstar has since shifted GTA 6 to 19 November 2026, leaving a big, empty crater in late May that other publishers are clearly happy to stand in.

IO Interactive has delayed 007 First Light by two months to 27 May 2026
The studio says the game is fully playable start-to-finish and the extra time is for polish
The new date lands right next to GTA 6's old May 26 2026 release date

The new release date (and why people noticed)

007 First Light is now set for 27 May 2026, instead of late March.

New date: 27 May 2026
Old date: 27 March 2026
Why it’s a headline: GTA 6 used to be 26 May 2026

That “one day after GTA 6’s old date” detail is doing a lot of work online. Publishers have spent years trying not to launch anywhere near GTA. Now that Rockstar moved out of May, that slot suddenly looks… survivable.

IO Interactive’s reason: polish, not panic

IOI’s message is pretty standard, but also unusually specific in one useful way: they say the game is already playable from beginning to end.

IOI calls it its “most ambitious project”
Says it’s fully playable now
The extra time is to “polish and refine” for day one

In plain terms: they’re past the “does it work?” stage and into the “will this blow up on launch day?” stage. For a studio going self-published on a big licensed game, day-one stability isn’t a nice-to-have. It’s the whole point.

The GTA 6 effect: a calendar everyone schedules around

Rockstar’s dates have been the metronome for big releases. First, it locked in 26 May 2026. Then it moved again to 19 November 2026.

GTA 6 was set for 26 May 2026 (Rockstar Newswire)
GTA 6 is now set for 19 November 2026 (Rockstar Newswire)
That makes late May a newly “free” window for other big games

This is why you’re seeing titles slide into gaps Rockstar leaves behind. It’s not fear, exactly. It’s maths. Competing launches fight for time, attention, and money. In the UAE, that also means players choosing between two AED 250–350 releases in the same month (and only finishing one).

What 007 First Light is (so far)

IOI is pitching 007 First Light as a Bond origin story, built by the Hitman studio, with the usual Bond ingredients: gadgets, driving, stealth, and shootouts.

Type: narrative action-adventure, Bond origin story
Platforms: PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC (Steam/Epic), Nintendo Switch 2
What’s been shown: a deep-dive gameplay segment via PlayStation’s State of Play

If you want a quick mental image: take IOI’s obsession with level design and “play your way” systems, then swap bald barcode man for a younger Bond who hasn’t earned the swagger yet. That’s the pitch, anyway.