After years of speculation and theories, Rockstar Games co-founder Dan Houser has finally explained why the studio canceled its PlayStation 3 exclusive spy game, Agent. The title was announced all the way back in 2009 during the now-defunct E3 event and was described by Rockstar Games as a “genre-defining” project. But it has now been revealed that Agent went through five different iterations before eventually being canned by the studio.
Following its reveal 16 years ago, very little was said about Rockstar’s highly anticipated PS3 spy game. Many speculated that the studio placed the project on the back burner in order to allocate more resources to Grand Theft Auto 5, which has since gone on to become one of the most famous and best-selling video games of all time. In the build-up to GTA 5‘s release, trademarks and shareholder meetings suggested that Agent was still very much alive, but recent years made it clear that Rockstar had no intention of ever returning to the title. Now, after all these years, fans have finally been told why.
Rockstar Co-Founder Explains Why Agent Was Canceled
In 2021, Rockstar made Agent‘s long-speculated death official and removed the title from its list of games on their website. However, there was no statement or comment from Rockstar as to why the spy game was canceled. Now, four years later, the studio’s co-founder, Dan Houser, has sat down with Lex Fridman for a lengthy interview, in which Agent‘s cancellation was briefly discussed. “We worked a lot on multiple iterations of an open-world spy game, and it never came together,” Houser said, before then clarifying that he was, of course, talking about Agent.
The developer goes on to explain that Agent had about five different iterations, but it never “found its feet” due to the fact that it was an open-world game. Houser compares the concept to espionage spy films, saying, “They’re very frenetic. You’ve got to go here and save the world, you’ve got to go there and stop that person being killed,” he said. “An open-world game does have moments like that when the story comes together, but for large portions it’s a lot, kind of looser, and you’re just hanging out.”
Ultimately, Houser reveals that Rockstar Games could never make the concept of an open-world spy game work, as it just didn’t make sense. He then tells Fridman that the studio also explored the idea of a game centered around knights in medieval times, but that it also never went anywhere.
It looks like Rockstar has had some pretty interesting concepts over the years, but ultimately opted to continue developing sequels and prequels to its established IPs, such as Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead. That decision clearly paid off, as Grand Theft Auto 5 has sold over 215 million copies to date, while Red Dead Redemption 2 has sold over 77 million copies since its release in 2018. Fans are now patiently waiting for Grand Theft Auto 6, which is set to launch on May 26, 2026, and is expected to be one of the biggest video game releases of all time.
- Date Founded
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December 22, 1998
- Headquarters
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New York, New York, United States
- CEO
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Sam Houser
