When it was announced that there was going to be an unofficial remake of the classic 90s shooter 007 Goldeneye in Unreal Engine 4, a lot of us were obviously very excited about it. Goldeneye is rightly heralded as one of the greatest FPS games to ever be made and the thought of it being remade in a modern game engine with modern graphics was just too good of an opportunity to pass up. It was originally intended to be released in August 2022 to coincide with the 25th anniversary of the original game but unfortunately, those plans have now hit a very major snag.
The problem is that being an unofficial remake, the developers needed to have permission from Danjaq and MGM to use the Bond IP. This new court order on behalf of Danjaq and MGM, who own the IP, means that the development of the game has to cease immediately. Whilst it’s a shame that the 25th anniversary remake of Goldeneye won’t be happening now, it doesn’t mean that the project was all for nothing. The developers have instead decided to create a new game with new IP, using the development work and assets created from the Goldeneye remake so far. It’s tentatively titled Spies Don’t Die after originally going under the development name of Project Ianus.
According to preliminary discussions, Spies Don’t Die looks like it’ll be set in the 80s or 90s and have a single-player focus, an original plot and a new OST, as well as a potential switch to Unreal Engine 5 in the future and the return of Dr. Doak (an NPC based on the likeness of Goldeneye developer David Doak) as a character. It also looks like it’ll come out within the next 2-3 years and be available on Steam as a paid release.
If Spies Don’t Die turns out to be a fantastic modern tribute to 90s shooters, then it could be the best making lemonade out of lemons situation we’ve ever seen in gaming! Let’s hope that turns out to be the case. If you would like more information on the game, you can check out its official Twitter account here.
Words by Robert Percy
Support The Indiependent
We’re trying to raise £200 a month to help cover our operational costs. This includes our ‘Writer of the Month’ awards, where we recognise the amazing work produced by our contributor team. If you’ve enjoyed reading our site, we’d really appreciate it if you could donate to The Indiependent. Whether you can give £1 or £10, you’d be making a huge difference to our small team.