On July 15th, VGC published an interview with IO Interactive regarding 007 First Light:
This interview has revealed many interesting things regarding IO's James Bond game such as the reasons why IO decided to make an origins story for James Bond:

But on the other side, I think that the franchise has evolved over time. The movies from Connery are different from Brosnan and from Craig and from what we're doing. In our case, we wanted to build an origin story first, because it's something that's not been done before, but also, it may make it a bit more relatable to an audience that's younger on consoles than at the cinema, and that's one thing as well. And it would give us a bit more freedom in telling the story that we want to say.

VGC asked IO if MGM were "very open" to what IO wanted to do with James Bond and IO stated that MGM has "been very open":

Was there anything off limits in terms of what you could look at with this game, or anything MGM didn't want to see, or preferred not to see? You mentioned at the start they weren't keen on making a pure shooter, and the creativity of IO's past work helped. Were they very open in what you wanted to try and do?

I've never had that question before, so I'll think back, but there is nothing that comes to mind outside of – yes, don't make him a killing machine! That was the first thing. But no, generally they've been very open.

They've considered every idea we've had. There weren't many massive nos or anything like that. It was always more like, "Yeah, but, we could do it this way, or…" So it's always been very collaborative, and a lot of good feedback, because they've been working with the franchise for so long as well, so it was great to have them so involved in the project, right? I'm sure it was a fun ride for them as well.

IO has even revealed that they have access to the sales teams for Amazon.com and Twitch as a result of MGM being part of Amazon:

You can't obviously talk specifics about the future, but what discussions have they been about how this game and your take on Bond fits in with their wider vision?

The game right now is made by IO and is been published by IO Interactive, but in terms of working with Amazon, it opens doors in the sense that, it gives us access to their sales team for Amazon.com and Twitch also for web broadcasting. We are having those talks, obviously, and it facilitates a lot of those things when you're in the same house. So that's great – but that's about it.

Don't make him a killing machine seems good advice.

Still perplexed at the characterisation decisions.

they are stressing again, that this will be very different than Hitman, a lot more linear

We were talking about you've had history with Hitman, and it being more of a sandbox design to be openly explored, and replayed, and approached in different ways – how much of that DNA is in [007 First Light], and in the campaign in particular?

There will be some of that DNA, but the game will be very different. You were mentioning it, but Hitman, if you think of it, it's a very open space, and you're coming in and you're very patient, and you're methodical, and you're gonna count the milliseconds before the guard passes – it's a very patient game.

Versus First Light, the character – in a sense – is young and a bit reckless, and sometimes doesn't have enough patience. In design, that means we have to give you a sense of forward momentum all the time, so he needs to think quick on his feet.

If the other game is more methodical, this one will be more about making you think fast under pressure, giving you a lot of options and you have to think – right, or left, or do you take all these guards? Do you blow your cover? We bring you forward all the time. So in that sense, the game is probably not as open.

There are open moments, but there are some more linear ones as well, and it would always be done because in this game compared to [Hitman], we are telling a story, so we need to kind of drive you through it. When it makes sense to open it up a little bit more, we do, and when we want to make an homage to what the franchise is about, which is sometimes very big stunts and cinematic moments, then we are going a be a bit more linear in that way.

It's good to keep the expectations of Hitman fans in check

they are stressing again, that this will be very different than Hitman, a lot more linear

It's good to keep the expectations of Hitman fans in check

Lame, definitely not interested but good to know!

Looking forward to playing this and IO has never really made anything I didn't care about, so I'll continue to be excited about anything they put out. But yes, I love their games the most when they go open ended.

(I still enjoyed Absolution)

In our case, we wanted to build an origin story first, because it's something that's not been done before, but also, it may make it a bit more relatable to an audience that's younger on consoles than at the cinema

Honestly Craig' Casino Royale is as close to an origin story as I want for Bond.

You can do it interestingly, sure, but I think many creative teams lean too much on origin stories as a way to make their protagonists fallable when they don't need to.

Why do people like James Bond and why does it endure? Because it's wish fulfilment. Broadly a suave, savvy, experienced, well trained spy does crazy shit against impossible odds, beats them and gets the girl. You can mix it up, but overall people don't want Diet Bond. Audiences don't need to see his Batman style 'pearls falling in the alleyway' moment. Even if console gamers are younger, we're not talking pre teens paying £69.99 for this stuff so they don't want training wheels Bond either.

Scar on the cheek shows they know ball.

They needed to just copy Alpha Protocol

Wasn't Bond a SAS commando in his younger years ? There is no young double-O operative I thought?