Development hell happens. It’s an unfortunate reality in most collaborative mediums that sometimes a project can’t come together, whether it be because of fiscal issues, timing issues, or simple mismanagement. Since, in general, video games take longer to make than films or tv shows, video game development hell can last a long time. For Rockstar Games, a prohect calledAgenthas been long-fabled while sitting in development hell for over a decade. However,Rockstar has recently delisted the gameon their website, which had been sitting there since 2007.
This comes at a time where many longtime Rockstar fans are waiting for new games from the developer.TheGrand Theft Auto 5remastered edition trailerthat Rockstar recently dropped was pretty much immediately dislike bombed. Furthermore, the developer has a very public history of exploitative working conditions, especially the company’s crunch culture. Though, as mentioned, development hell does happen unavoidably sometimes, the history ofAgent’sdevelopment hell does nothing to inspire faith in Rockstar’s labor practices.
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What Agent Would Have Been
Agentwas conceived of as an homage to James Bond films and Cold War conspiracy thrillers, while also being described as a genre-defining and cutting edge game. The initial announcement of this open-world spy game happened at 2007’s E3. This was just a year afterRockstar had acquired the publishing rights toL.A. Noire,but the developer promised thatAgentwould be a different game entirely. The details ofAgent,including its name, were then announced at 2009’s E3. Importantly,Agentwas set to be a PS3 exclusive. The timeframe at this point was not unreasonable, especially with Rockstar focusing its energy on theGrand Theft Autoseries. However, after 2009, the news aboutAgentgot scarcer and scarcer until Rockstar finally seemed to abandon the project completely.
What Happened Inside Rockstar
Over the years, higher-ups at Sony and Rockstar havegenerally avoided questions aboutAgent.However, there have been multiple leaks of concept art and screenshots and various purported inside sources detailing what happened to the game. In 2013, the announcement of the PS4 meant thatAgent,which was already in development hell, could be adapted to be a PS4 exclusive. Take-Two Entertainment (Rockstar’s parent company) renewed its trademarks forAgenttwice after the announcement of the PS4, before finally abandoning the trademarks in 2018.
Evidence from developers who were actually working onAgent,interviews with other Rockstar developers, and the game released by Rockstar instead ofAgentpaint a pretty clear picture of what happened to the game. The announcement ofAgentcame afterGrand Theft Auto IV,but before the mammoth success ofGrand Theft Auto VandRed Dead Redemption 2.Reports generally agree that most of what existed ofAgentwas absorbed intoGTA5.As has become increasingly apparent over the years is that Rockstar depends on this title, and because of the culture of the crunch at the company, developers are usually spent by the time they’ve met Rockstar’s level of work demanded.
Even without the accounts of developers working onAgent,Rockstar has not been shy about devoting its time to already established franchises. Even despite the exposes on workplace conditions at Rockstar that occurred before the release ofRed Dead Redemption 2,the game was an enormous success. In 2018, when the trademarks forAgentwere abandoned, Rockstar had two massive titles to rely on. However, withno official news ofGrand Theft Auto VI,aRed Deadfollowup, or indeed any other releases aside from the remasteredGrand Theft Auto V,Rockstar has put itself in a perilous position. The future of the developer is uncertain, though there is a loyal fanbase of its franchises. A such, a return to form is not off the table, even ifAgentis.
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