GoldenEye is making its return to our consoles

GoldenEye was, of course, the reinvention of the James Bond franchise for the 90s, with Pierce Brosnan taking on the role of the suave British super spy for the first time. Four years later, GoldenEye 007 was released as a first-person shooter for the Nintendo 64 console. Now, after a series of false starts and rumors, a re-release of the game has finally been officially announced for the Nintendo Switch and Microsoft Xbox consoles.

GoldenEye launched during an era when video game movie adaptations were not very well received and considered subpar games in general often critically maligned. It broke the stigma of movie-based video games and first-person shooters on consoles by proving both could be very, very good. The game received multiple game of the year awards and is often considered the very best movie adaptation, the best James Bond game, and one of the best games of all time.

However, the game never saw a re-release since its initial 1997 launch. That’s because the rights for James Bond video games went from Nintendo over to Electronic Arts for the very next game in the franchise- Tomorrow Never Dies. Activision took over the licensing after them, and it became almost impossible to get a game released by a different developer and publisher (namely GoldenEye ) to be issued again after the rights had shifted.

Complicating things even further was the fact that in 2002 Microsoft bought Rare, the original developers of GoldenEye. They purchased a lot of the intellectual rights for Rare’s library with that move. That supposedly could have included GoldenEye, though Microsoft had no license to publish the game at the time or for many years after.

There have been attempts to release the game for years now on various Microsoft consoles. The prototype was developed for the Xbox 360, but publishing rights could not be worked out in a way that appeased all parties, which would include Microsoft, Nintendo, Activision, and Eon (the holders of the James Bond intellectual property). So, while screenshots and videos of the prototype were released onto the Internet, nothing official ever came of that project. 

Both Electronic Arts and Activision cashed in on the GoldenEye name over the years. Electronic Arts released Goldeneye: Rogue Agent back on the original Xbox console, as well as the PlayStation 2 and Nintendo GameCube. Activision released a reimagining of GoldenEye called GoldenEye: Reloaded with Daniel Craig playing the James Bond role. This game released for the Xbox 360/PlayStation 3/Nintendo Wii era of consoles.

For months now, there have been rumors floating that a GoldenEye rerelease was in the works for the Xbox One and Xbox Series S consoles, with the potential for a Nintendo Switch release as well. After extensive speculation, leaked screenshots and achievement lists, an official announcement has finally been made.

There’s no release date set for GoldenEye 007 at the moment, other than a vague “coming soon”. We do have some concrete details about the release, though, including the fact that it will release on day one on Xbox Game Pass, so Game Pass members will be able to play it for free. We also know that those who own a digital copy of Rare Replay will be able to download Goldeneye 007 for free.

Another interesting detail that surfaced since the official announcement is that the game will not have any online multiplayer component on the Xbox consoles but will on Nintendo Switch. A lot of gamers are hoping that aspect of the release will change in time, as certain console exclusive features, characters, and releases have changed in the past after a game’s initial launch date.

We’ve seen that happen with games in the Tomb Raider and Call of Duty franchises, just to name a couple of examples, which had full releases or downloadable content that was initially announced as console specific. That changed over time so that more console owners could enjoy the timed exclusives. We may see something similar happen with GoldenEye 007 and its online multiplayer functionality.

What kind of enhancements should gamers expect with this release? The announcement from Nintendo Direct detailed smoother framerates, which is a huge plus for this specific game. Back in the day, GoldenEye 007 was notorious for slow frame rates when there was a lot of action on screen or when four players were playing the game simultaneously. The Nintendo Direct announcement included specific details that the framework would be smoother in four player multiplayer as well.

The game will also come with 4K resolution so the gamers can enjoy crisp, detailed graphics. It will also feature achievements, which are in-game goals and rewards on Xbox consoles.

Though no details about the controls have been announced yet, we do expect that modern control options will be available so that the game is more accessible to today’s players.

Are you excited about this announcement? Are you already planning to carve out some extra time in your week, perhaps hiring cleaners to do your house chores and sending the kids by grandmother’s house? 

The glory days of the Nintendo 64 are far behind us, but some of the best games for the system are slowly trickling out on modern systems. Over the last few years, we saw the release of Turok and Turok 2, Shadow Man, and then of course all those wonderful Rare games packaged in the Rare Replay collection. With GoldenEye now about to join these modern updates of classic games, those digital dorm room shootouts can start up once more, and we can again hear cries of, “No picking Oddjob!” 

We expect GoldenEye 007 to be released on the Xbox One, Xbox Series S, and Nintendo Switch in the coming months, possibly in time for the holidays. This is an announcement we’ve been waiting for for a very long time, and we imagine many of our readers feel the same way.