All Articles: Agent

It’s been a wild ride, but it looks like Rockstar’s Agent has finally been canceled.

First announced in 2009 as a PS3 exclusive, Agent was touted as an open-word spy thriller from the creators of the Grand Theft Auto franchise. Rockstar eventually unveiled a pretty swanky logo for the 1970s-set story, but it was subsequently pushed to the backburner so the publisher could focus on Red Dead Redemption and Grand Theft Auto V.

Last week, Rockstar’s parent company, Take-Two Interactive, officially abandoned the trademark for Agent by failing to file a “Statement of Use or Extension Request” with the US Patent and Trademark Office. It’s possible that the publisher is using this opportunity to give Agent a new title, but that seems extremely unlikely after almost a decade of silence.

While Rockstar hadn’t publicly commented on the game in years, an artist formerly employed by the publisher’s Rockstar North division posted some concept art from the game in 2015. Sadly, it now appears that those images will be our only glimpse at what Agent might have become.

Even though it was announced more than six years ago, Rockstar’s Agent, their PS3-exclusive Cold War shooter, has never officially been canceled. But aside from the game’s logo, the gaming public hasn’t heard anything else about it in all that time. Until today, that is.

Darren Charles Hatton, an artist formerly employed by Rockstar North, has updated his official website with some concept art he created for Agent back in 2009. According to Hatton, his team was pulled off the project less than a year later and eventually put to work on Grand Theft Auto V. The artist left Rockstar in 2010, but he said, “[I’m not] sure if this project will ever be published.”

The leaked concept art has been posted after the break, and you can find even more environment tests at Hatton’s Agent portfolio. Take-Two Interactive renewed the trademark for Agent back in 2014, but hasn’t spoken publicly about the game in years. (more…)

Agent. That’s all I have to say…

OK, a little more. Agent has been in development in some form or another since 2007. It was first announced in 2009 as a PS3 exclusive and its been in limbo practically ever since. Sony doesn’t want to talk about it. Strauss Zelnick, Take-Two’s CEO, refuses to comment on its progress. But somehow, it still lives. This week, Take-Two Interactive renewed both of their trademarks related to Agent (the title and the logo).

If this story sounds familiar, it should. Take-Two filed a renewal application for Agent’s trademark with the US Patent and Trademark Office in July 2013. What’s different this time? Who knows?

What we do know that Rockstar Games is hard at work on a game for next-generation consoles and they plan to release it before April 1, 2015. Could it be Agent? It’s certainly a possibility (and we said as much in the latest episode of Continue Countdown), though an enhanced edition of Grand Theft Auto V is more likely.

The 2014 E3 Expo is slightly more than two weeks away, perhaps we’ll find out there.

It was about this time last year when Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick told investors that he had nothing to announce concerning Agent, Rockstar’s funky take on the espionage genre. First announced at E3 2009, the game has remained hidden from the public eye ever since, very similar to the spies at the center of its story.

But Take-Two isn’t done with Agent yet. According to a filing with the US Patent and Trademark Office, the publisher renewed their trademark claim on the title last week. So Agent still exists in some form. Take that, Cracked!

Of course, when (or if) it will ever be released is anyone’s guess.

Agent, Rockstar’s PS3-exclusive secret agent period piece, was left off Take-Two Interactive’s latest update to their upcoming games list. The game was first announced during E3 2009, but Take-Two and Rockstar have been reluctant to speak about it since then. But that didn’t stop Arvind Bhatia, a financial analyst from Sterne Agee & Leach, from asking Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick about the game during the company’s most recent quarterly conference call.

Arvind Bhatia: Last question, is Agent still going to be in the pipeline for, I guess, in the next 12 to 18 months? Or should we not consider that as a factor? Kind of where are you on that title?

Strauss Zelnick: Yes, we haven’t announced anything about the title yet.

While it sounds like Agent is still in development, Zelnick’s quick dismissal of the question means it may be a long time before we actually get to play it.