It Looks Like Rockstar Has Finally Cancelled Agent
Consider us shaken and stirred, as it looks like Rockstar Games has us staring down a gun barrel and has just put a bullet in the brain of Agent. The idea of the acclaimed studio behind Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead Redemption working on a spy game is almost too tempting to pass up on. Sadly, it seems Agent has been disavowed.
Rockstar is about as big as they come, and with a packed schedule that includes GTA V: Expanded & Enhanced, GTA Remastered Trilogy, and hopes that GTA 6 is out there somewhere, there just doesn't seem to be enough hours in the day to give this Bond homage the love it deserves.
What was Agent?
Pour yourself a vodka Martini for this one, because Agent's complicated history is a long one. First announced in 2007, this PlayStation 3 exclusive came as something of a shock because we were just about to get to grips with GTA IV and assumed Rockstar was pretty busy.
Tipped as a "genre defining" title, Agent was going to follow a group of spies in the '70s and channel what sounds like some serious Atomic Blonde vibes. Hyped at E3 2009, former Take-Two President Ben Feder said he was confident Agents could reach the same dizzying heights of GTA. Players were pumped, but what happened?
E3 2011 mentioned development issues, while Take-Two's 2013 financials made no mention of Agent. That was a full nine years ago, and while Rockstar presumably hoped we'd all forgotten, wannabe 00s have kept an eye out for intel.
Where is Agent now?
In a cruel twist of fate, outlets are reporting that Rockstar has completely abandoned the Agent IP. RIP Agent, we hardly knew ye. If you head to the Agent website, you'll now be redirected to the Rockstar homepage. It's also been removed from Rockstar's games section.
The writing was already on the wall, and with Rockstar giving up on the Agent trademark in 2018, we knew the mythical game wasn't long for this world. Still, some of us held out hope that Rockstar's continued dominance of the industry could lead to a glimmer of hope for Agent alongside Red Dead 3 and a Bully sequel.
Chances are, most of the work done on Agent has been amalgamated into GTA V. Even if you haven't officially played Agent, the idea has lived on in spirit. Looking at how amazing Rockstar is at creating open worlds that are fleshed out with complex characters, your mind can run wild with what Agents could've been like. We're hoping there were plans for a scarred villain that would spin around in a chair while stroking a white cat.
