‘GoldenEye 007’ Leaked Achievements Suggest the Nintendo 64 Classic Might Get an Xbox Release
Is GoldenEye 007 finally getting the remaster it deserves? The 1997 Nintendo 64 game, based on 1995’s James Bond flick GoldenEye, became one of the Nintendo console’s best-selling titles and has received credit for changing the first-person shooter genre as a whole. Many fans have begged for a GoldenEye 007 remake or emulation on Nintendo Switch. It looks like the remake might become a possibility — but not on a Nintendo console. A recent list of leaked achievements seems to suggest that GoldenEye 007 might arrive on Xbox someday in the future.
‘GoldenEye 007’ almost had a remake on Xbox Live Arcade in 2008
A decade after developer Rare released GoldenEye 007 on Nintendo 64, the studio started planning a remaster for Xbox Live Arcade. It even came close to completion, but rights issues surrounding James Bond licenses caused the project to collapse, according to Video Game Chronicles. The game never received an official release, although a fully-playable ROM of the remaster did circulate in early 2021.
GoldenEye 007 composter Grant Kirkhope admitted to VGC in February 2021 that there were “too many stakeholders” involved, so the project couldn’t continue.
“Microsoft, Nintendo, and EON [owners of the Bond license] could never agree on terms. And that’s before you even start to consider getting all the original movie actors to agree to have their likenesses used again,” he said. “It would’ve cost a lot of money to get it done, and because of that, the project probably wouldn’t have been financially viable.”
Leaked achievements suggest ‘GoldenEye 007’ might get an Xbox remaster after all
It seems unlikely that Rare and the other Bond stakeholders reached an agreement after all these years. However, recent achievement leaks via True Achievements have raised suspicion.
The site revealed 55 GoldenEye 007 achievements for a mysterious Xbox version of the game. Many of them involve completing levels at various difficulties, while some relate to multiplayer mode. And according to True Achievements, this list is completely different from the Xbox Live Arcade achievement list. Could it be a new remaster?
Other than the achievements, there has been no news about another GoldenEye 007 Xbox remaster. However, it’s worth noting that 2022 marks 25 years since the original GoldenEye 007 release. If there were ever a time to finally unleash a remaster, it would be now.
The James Bond franchise teased 60th anniversary news coming in 2022
On top of the GoldenEye 007 anniversary, 2022 is a big year for the James Bond franchise as a whole. As seen above, on Jan. 1, the official James Bond Twitter account teased its 60th anniversary. According to the tweet, 2022 will hold “announcements, events, and new content” all year long. So far, a documentary looking at the music of the James Bond franchise has already been announced.
It’s not clear yet what all is in store, but the celebration could certainly add to hopes of a GoldenEye 007 remaster.
