Despite the critical and commercial success of 007 First Light earlier this year, Amazon had floated the idea of taking over the license from IO Interactive. Indeed, the American giant owns the rights to the franchise and could decide to produce the next game in-house or entrust it to another studio.

This idea, which was once hinted at by Jeff Gattis, CEO of Amazon Games, seems to be fading. In a new statement, Gattis instead mentioned the possibility of creating a second James Bond game with IO Interactive. It appears Amazon is not, after all, seeking to take over the franchise.

"We did not confirm anything about who’s publishing or developing the next Bond sequel. Like Hakan [Abrak, IOI CEO] said, we haven’t even discussed it really yet. The game’s awesome. That’s great. I think it’s realistic to think that there would be a sequel. Technically, Amazon does own the rights to the game, but we’re going to do what’s right by the game, we’re not trying to bring everything into Amazon. Given the success of this one, I think you probably want IOI developing it."

Finally, regarding a potential acquisition of IO Interactive by Amazon, Gattis doesn’t rule it out, but adds that no negotiations are currently taking place.