Agent

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Notes: Addition of Rockstar North's Cairo incident, publicly shared concept artworks, developer's public portfolio screenshots...

Type

GAME

Agent

Developer(s)

Rockstar North

Publisher(s)

Rockstar Games

Agent is an unreleased stealth action game under development byRockstar North that was originally announced as aPlayStation 3 exclusive title. The game was scheduled to be published byRockstar Games circa2010. 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 ofTake-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 PresidentSam Houser describedAgent 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 forAgent was launched.^[5]

In an interview with GameSpot on June 2009, Ben Feder said he is confident thatAgent could achieve the same level of success as theGrand Theft Auto series, given that its was being developed as another collaboration between the Houser Brothers and Rockstar North.^[6]

Development[]

Demo[]

According toObbe Vermeij, former technical director at Rockstar North, the Scottish game developers wanted to create a new IP, separate fromGrand Theft Auto, ever since the release ofGrand Theft Auto: San Andreas in2004.Rockstar San Diego were working on aJames Bond-style game at that time, andLeslie 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 withinGrand Theft Auto: San Andreas. Vermeij recalls that the demo included a "hang glider and acar turning into a submarine". The demo impressed both Rockstar San Diego and Rockstar Games, and the Rockstar North team was split – one team developingGrand Theft Auto IV and the other one developingAgent.^[7]

"Jimmy" Project[]

Internally, the project was known as "Jimmy" (diminutive of "James" [Bond]). In his blog, Vermeij describesAgent as being "more linear thanGTA 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 toGrand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City onRockstar Newswire, Rockstar Games listedAgent as an upcoming 2010 release, also confirming thatAgent 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 toGrand 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 artistLeigh Donoghue shared the first screenshots ofAgent on his online resume, dated of 2009.^[10]

Leftovers[]

Vehicles[]

Vehicle handling names of bothGrand Theft Auto IV andAgent can be found as leftovers in thehandling.dat file forMax Payne 3.^[11] Some of the vehicles listed under the "Jimmy vehicles" section contains certainGTA vehicle names andAgent exclusive vehicles:

Moreover, in the 2022/2023Grand Theft Auto V leaks, screenshots ofAgent included in the files revealed two additional vehicles, aTug boat and theDinghy, the latter using the same design as inGrand Theft Auto IV. Additionally, the source code for the tools utilized in the development of bothAgent's andGrand Theft Auto V's development references two additional vehicles:beem andskidoo.^[12]

Gallery[]

Agent listed on the Rockstar Games website (removed).

References[]