Agent is an unreleased stealth action game under development by Rockstar North that was originally announced as a PlayStation 3 exclusive title. The game was scheduled to be published by Rockstar Games circa 2010. The trademark for the game's title was renewed in 2013 and 2017, and abandoned by November 2018. [1]
Plot[]
Agent was to be set during the Cold War in the late 1970s. According to a press release, the game was planned to "take players into the world of counter-intelligence, espionage and political assassinations".
Description[]
In July 2007, at E3 2007, Sony Computer Entertainment announced that Rockstar Games was working on a new franchise for the PlayStation 3.
Former president of Take-Two Interactive Ben Feder said that the game would be "genre-defining" and "a whole new way of experiencing videogames that we haven't really seen before".[2]
The project was first properly revealed during the Sony press conference at the E3 2009, including its title and synopsis. Rockstar Games President Sam Houser described Agent as a game the company had been wanting to make for some time, and had set out to create a unique experience for the player. Houser praised the Rockstar North team for combining intense action, atmosphere, and story in a great period setting to create something that feels quite unique.[3][4] In the same year, the game was included in the game list of Rockstar Games' website and an official website for Agent was launched. [5]
In an interview with GameSpot on June 2009, Ben Feder said he is confident that Agent could achieve the same level of success as the Grand Theft Auto series, given that its was being developed as another collaboration between the Houser Brothers and Rockstar North. [6]
Development[]
Demo[]
According to Obbe Vermeij, former technical director at Rockstar North, the Scottish game developers wanted to create a new IP, separate from Grand Theft Auto, ever since the release of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas in 2004. Rockstar San Diego were working on a James Bond-style game at that time, and Leslie Benzies (former president of Rockstar North) was interested in that type of game setting.
Shortly after, Rockstar North developed an internal demo for a spy game within Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. Vermeij recalls that the demo included a "hang glider and a car turning into a submarine". The demo impressed both Rockstar San Diego and Rockstar Games, and the Rockstar North team was split – one team developing Grand Theft Auto IV and the other one developing Agent.[7]
"Jimmy" Project[]
Internally, the project was known as "Jimmy" (diminutive of "James" [Bond]). In his blog, Vermeij describes Agent as being "more linear than GTA with a number of locations", including a French Mediterranean city, a Swiss ski resort, Cairo, with the story culminating in a "classic James Bond-style shootout with lasers in space". Vermeij also recalls working on a downhill skiing chase and gunfight scene.
In late development, two entire levels (including the space fight section) has been cut from the game.[7]
Release Date[]
In a September 2009 Q&A post related to Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City on Rockstar Newswire, Rockstar Games listed Agent as an upcoming 2010 release, also confirming that Agent was still planned as a PlayStation 3-exclusive title.
With the announcement of the PlayStation 4 on 20 February 2013, there was an expectation that Agent may have moved to become a PlayStation 4-exclusive title. However, there was no mention of the game at the launch.
Cancelled Project[]
In December 2015, a few new screenshots from between 2009 and 2010 were leaked by former Rockstar North artist Darren Charles Hatton on his online portfolio. The artist said that the art team was taken off the Agent project and reassigned to Grand Theft Auto V, adding that he was "not sure if this project will ever be published".[9]
The game's development was eventually cancelled. According to Obbe Vermeij, the project "wasn't progressing as well as [they'd] hoped" and "it became clear that [Agent] was going to be too much of a distraction for [them]", so Rockstar North ended up ditching the project".[7]
Official Screenshots[]
On 15 August 2011, former Rockstar North environmental artist Leigh Donoghue shared the first screenshots of Agent on his online resume, dated of 2009.[10]
Leftovers[]
Vehicles[]
Vehicle handling names of both Grand Theft Auto IV and Agent can be found as leftovers in the handling.dat file for Max Payne 3.[11] Some of the vehicles listed under the "Jimmy vehicles" section contains certain GTA vehicle names and Agent exclusive vehicles:
Moreover, in the 2022/2023 Grand Theft Auto V leaks, screenshots of Agent included in the files revealed two additional vehicles, a Tug boat and the Dinghy, the latter using the same design as in Grand Theft Auto IV. Additionally, the source code for the tools utilized in the development of both Agent's and Grand Theft Auto V's development references two additional vehicles: beem and skidoo.[12]
Gallery[]
References[]
- ↑ "Take-Two Appears To Have Abandoned Agent Trademark" - GameSpot, November 23, 2018 (Archived)
- ↑ "E3: Rockstar's Agent is "genre-defining": Take-Two talks-up PS3 exclusive." - Eurogamer, June 4, 2009 (Archived)
- ↑ "Rockstar details Agent" - Alex Sassoon, GameSpot on June 3, 2009 at 3:54PM PDT
- ↑ "Sony announces PS3-exclusive Rockstar franchise" - Emma Boyes, Game Spot (June 3, 2009 at 10:00AM PDT)
- ↑ Official Agent website (Archived)
- ↑ "Take-Two grooming Agent to be the next GTA" - Tor Thorsen, GameSpot on June 9, 2009 at 4:49PM PDT
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Obbe Vermeij's blog, November 11, 2023
- ↑ "Your Questions Answered: Episodes from Liberty City vs. The Ballad of Gay Tony" - Rockstar Newswire, September 4, 2009
- ↑ "New screens from Rockstar’s Agent leak (and they still don’t tell you anything)" - Metro Gaming, 22 Dec 2015 (Archived)
- ↑ "Environment Artist’s profile reveal first Agent screenshots" - VG247, 15 August 2011 18:39 GMT
- ↑ (11/14/2024)
- ↑
tools_ng\etc\content\batch\vehicles.xml: Lines 8, 10