Credit - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:1963_Aston_Martin_DB5_(James_Bond)_rear.jpg 

Introduction

As far as classic, retro titles go, few evoke nostalgia like 007 GoldenEye. Although it’s famous for becoming a massive hit on the Nintendo 64, there were equivalents you could find on the Game Boy Advance, and PlayStation had its crack at it with less successful variations. 

Nobody can deny that a colossal market for 007 video games existed in the 1990s and early 2000s. However, we’re not laying the blame on the doorstep of Daniel Craig, but there was a marked decline in the number of James Bond games that were able to captivate an audience from 2005 onwards. 

In fact, despite several rumors and whispers, there hasn’t been an actual James Bond gaming release since 2012. Perhaps it’s time for the famous English secret agent to make a gaming comeback. Well, it might not be as simple as it seems. 

Failing To Adapt To A Changing Audience

Gaming companies are only successful if they can keep their fingers on the pulse of a changing gaming appetite and world. Designers and ideas that either become stale or do not adapt to this face a worrying future. Ultimately, this is the fate that has besieged the Bond gaming franchise. 

That’s not to say there isn’t a massive market for adrenaline-based, high-octane content. Entertainment is a multi-trillion dollar industry with thousands of different facets, but the new online-driven paradigm that dominates the new entertainment world has led to the rise of brands such as Team Ignition, which offers a range of intriguing adrenaline-based content and finds a strong audience. 

While there’s still a market for video games, entertainment like this eats into the action video gaming genre and its market share, allowing access to it quicker and cheaper than purchasing a video console or game. 

They showcase how successfully combining consumer appetite with innovative ideas can result in ideas that look to the future. While GoldenEye is still one of the great games of the 1990s, designers kept trying to churn out the same game with slightly better graphics and did not follow a blueprint of innovation in the same vein. 

Some successes, like From Russia With Love and Everything Or Nothing for the PS2, still appeal to those who want to save some cash and play retro games online and are an intriguing snippet into the past, but as standalone games, they didn’t garner the critical acclaim or commercial success GoldenEye did. 

The hit rate for 007 games has been worryingly low, contributing significantly to designers' reluctance to take a chance on recent ideas. Although remodeling similar ideas works for sports games, first-person shooter games often require more nuance and creativity to captivate an audience. 

Bond’s Changing Role In Cinema

One of the most intriguing arguments for the fall of the Bond genre is the character's changing role in modern society. It’s fair to say that despite the incredible success of Sean Connery’s charismatic, sophisticated, handsome Bond, who doesn’t crack under pressure, the character has had to reshape in the modern world and changed significantly since the 1960s. Although many of Connery’s adaptations of Fleming’s character are still ranked highly among film buffs.

Becoming more emotionally complex, with backstory development and a role that Daniel Craig has completely turned into his own over the last two decades. No longer is Bond viewed as a macho, stoney character; some complexities have now endeared him to a modern audience. 

The post-Craig era is set to experience even more changes. Instead of this one-dimensional maverick agent who always saves the day, which is an ideal character backstory, Bond feels a lot more human. 

This isn’t a criticism; it’s a long-overdue character arc. While this might not seem like a huge challenge for designers to adjust to - it means the character doesn’t have the distinctive brute force that is much easier to portray in a gaming title or a first-person shooter.

Licensing

GoldenEye 007 was a fully licensed Bond game, but as one of the most successful film franchises of all time, obtaining the rights to create a new game costs a proverbial arm and leg. 

This puts it into the realm of a select few designers, many of whom have a deep catalog of first-person shooters. With so many of these titles already - and with the recent history of Bond games being flops and costly from the get-go, cost inefficiency is an enormous factor, too. 

Those who manage to obtain the license also risk having it taken off them if the game sells poorly - another unwanted, unneeded risk.

Final Thoughts

Other genres have suffered the same fate as Bond games, most notably boxing games, which haven’t been around since the early 2010s. Expensive licensing, graphics, and games with very similar designs to previous titles are all components that have befallen this genre, too. 

There is still a market for James Bond games. Given that the film continues to generate enormous news and box-office success, if a designer can take the idea and turn it into something fresh and relevant for a modern audience, then there’s definitely scope for success.

It doesn’t appear that many gaming companies are keen to tackle Fleming’s iconic character. However, with Craig out the door and a new Bond imminent - there could be a market for piecing together a new game spearheaded by whichever actor they eventually choose.