007 First Light includes a very random Khaby Lame cameo

Content creators get the spotlight in Bond's latest adventure

007 First Light has the kind of star-studded cast you'd expect from a James Bond game. Patrick Gibson, Gemma Chan, and even Lenny Kravitz lead IO Interactive's cinematic adventure. There are a few surprise cameos in there, too, but they're almost certainly not the Hollywood stars you're probably expecting. In fact, one is downright bizarre.

Allow me to set the stage: Bond is at a resort in Vietnam on an intel-gathering mission. He needs to find three specific people scattered around the various poolside bars and villas. He walks up to a man standing in front of a directory and asks him for directions to a specific area. Without saying a word, the man looks up at the directory, which answers the question in big letters, and turns back to Bond with an exasperated hand gesture. It's none other than — checks notes — Khaby Lame!

Whether you recognize this as a meme depends on how active you were on TikTok five years ago. Lame became a social media sensation around 2021 for a series of videos where he would react to "life hack" clips by showing a faster way to accomplish what the convoluted trick does. The punchline is always Lame dropping his signature hand gesture. At the time, it was a fun little way to mock the kind of short-form videos that algorithms were favoring.

It's a very left-field cameo, considering that Lame and his whole bit are pretty far past their peak popularity, but he's not the only influencer in the game. Gaming content creators Jacksepticeye and Shroud both appear in First Light's voice cast, right alongside Hollywood stars.

As head-scratching as it is, it makes perfect sense... in a roundabout way. True to the James Bond films, the game is full of shameless product placement. Sweeping shots of car logos and carefully placed Coca-Cola cans leave no questions as to how IO Interactive pulled together enough budget to make such a lavish, polished game that rivals Uncharted 4: A Thief's End. What is an influencer cameo if not a modern bit of product placement, too? After all, Khaby Lame is a brand, just like an Omega watch. He's a perfect match for the corporatized world of James Bond, for better or worse.

007 First Light launches on May 27 for PS5, Windows PC, and Xbox Series X, but those who pre-ordered it can start playing today.