adminDelphi Interactive is the company behind plans for a new FIFA game coming to Netflix in 2026. While the project puts the Los Angeles-based firm alongside major names in gaming and entertainment, Delphi has kept a relatively low profile. Its work on FIFA and the James Bond franchise offers a closer look at a different way to bring established properties into video games.
Image credit: Netflix
What is Delphi Interactive?
Founded in 2020, Delphi describes its work as licensing, financing, developing, and publishing games based on well-known intellectual properties. CEO and founder Casper Daugaard says the company aims to operate beyond the conventional publishing structure, which Delphi calls the “publisher industrial complex.”
Daugaard argues that the established publishing landscape can be slow to take risks and is concentrated among a relatively small number of companies, many focused on their own franchises. Delphi’s approach is to work with rights holders whose properties have potential in games, while building partnerships around each project.
Practical context: A licensed game can involve several organizations, including the rights holder, publisher, developer, and financing partners. Their responsibilities may differ from one project to another.
Delphi Interactive and its James Bond project
Delphi’s first major licensed project was connected to James Bond. The franchise had not had a new game since Activision’s exclusive period, which ran from 2007 through 007 Legends in 2012. Daugaard says the idea began with a question about what kind of game the team would like to see, rather than with a standard pitch presentation.
The team was inspired by the character-focused action games Batman: Arkham and Spider-Man and saw an opportunity to explore a similar approach for Bond. Delphi says it developed the concept, secured the licence from MGM/Danjaq, brought IO Interactive onto the project, and financed an early vertical slice. IO Interactive became the project’s developer and publisher.
Initially revealed as Project 007 in November 2020, the game is now called 007 First Light. The article reported that it was scheduled to launch on May 27 after a delay.
Casper Daugaard | Image credit: Delphi Interactive
Theodor Tang-Peronard, a partner and executive producer at Delphi, says rights holders have become more knowledgeable about game development, business models, and the lasting value of their properties. He sees a growing gap between licensors seeking committed partners and publishers that may prioritize their own franchises.
How Delphi is developing the new FIFA game
Delphi says its work on 007 First Light helped it build more internal development and publishing capabilities for later projects, including FIFA. Tang-Peronard describes the company as a full developer and publisher for this project, with a lean core team supported by external development partners.
Refactor Games is among those partners. Based at Delphi’s Los Angeles headquarters, the studio is partly owned by Delphi and backed by the Speedrun fund from A16z. Refactor was founded in 2021 and released the physics-focused American football game Football Simulator into Early Access in 2022. Its team includes people who previously worked at VR developer Survios and blockchain developer N3TWORK.
For FIFA, Delphi says it leads creative direction, production, technology, and publishing, while relying on partners to support development quality and pace. The company has also added chief technology officer Julien Merceron, a games industry veteran with more than 30 years of experience at Ubisoft, Eidos, Square Enix, Konami, and Bandai Namco.
Football Simulator was Refactor’s first release and remains in Early Access. | Image credit: Refactor Games
What to watch: The announcement identifies Delphi and its partners’ roles, but details such as gameplay features and release plans should be checked against official updates as they become available.
Delphi Interactive’s plans for more licensed games
James Bond and FIFA are two high-profile properties, but they also come with significant expectations. Bond’s rights were long associated with the Broccoli family before moving to Amazon, while Electronic Arts handled FIFA for more than 30 years. Delphi says it is building a broader project pipeline rather than limiting its work to these franchises.
Daugaard describes two main areas of focus: Delphi Titan, for fictional properties such as James Bond, and Delphi Sports, which includes FIFA. The company says it is being selective about future projects and plans to share additional information when appropriate.
The first game to carry Delphi’s name, 007 First Light, was reported as set to release on May 27. | Image credit: IO Interactive
What Delphi Interactive’s approach could mean
Delphi’s model combines licensing, financing, development, publishing, and partnerships, with the exact mix shaped by each game. Its stated goal is to make large-scale licensed games with a focused internal team and experienced collaborators rather than relying entirely on a traditional publisher structure.
For players, the key measure will be how well the finished games serve both their source properties and the expectations of their audiences. Delphi Interactive’s upcoming FIFA game and 007 First Light will show how its approach works in practice.
