The new James Bond in the game speaks Montenegrin and has already raised a lot of dust in the Balkans

A controversial scene in Iceland

The scene that caused the reactions of the players takes place in the base in Iceland. Young Bond enters the room through the window, and a masked soldier approaches him from behind and addresses him in Serbian: “You have arrived, where have you been until now?”. Agent 007, with a noticeably foreign accent, replies: “Relax, I’ll be there in a second.” Immediately afterwards, from MI6 headquarters, a female voice asks him in English:

​- You price srpski?

To this, Bond confidently corrects his superior.

​- Montenegrin, I learned a few phrases while hiking there – he answers.

To avoid confusion, the official in-game subtitles also list the language as “Montenegrin”. This dialogue immediately triggered an avalanche of comments on forums and networks throughout the Balkans, where language issues often have great political weight.

Bond for a new generation

The decision of the developers to specify the language as Montenegrin is not a coincidence, rather; fits into their broader vision of creating a completely original origin story of the famous spy. “007 First Light” introduces Bond as a 26-year-old, inexperienced and sometimes reckless recruit to MI6’s training program. Studio IO Interactive, known for the popular series Hitmanfrom the beginning he emphasized how he wanted to create a Bond for a modern audience, a character whose whole value system is different from that of Sean Connery or even Daniel Craig.

Martin Emborg, the narrative director of the game, pointed out that their Bond “is not a dinosaur” and that the female characters will be treated “as characters” and not as mere objects. In this context, a linguistic detail such as the recognition of the Montenegrin language can be seen as part of an effort to create a more modern and nuanced world that reflects today’s geopolitical and cultural realities, instead of relying on outdated stereotypes. The game thus consciously enters a sensitive area, but at the same time shows the ambition to offer a fresh interpretation of a character over sixty years old.