Video games get canceled. As projects switch hands and go through the rigorous development process, developers and publishers can often impose requirements, transformations, and restrictions, which result in them never seeing the light of the day. This is what happened to Rockstar Games' Agent.
Originally announced as a PlayStation 3 exclusive at E3 2009, Agent wanted to plunge players deep into a 1970s Cold War setting, promising a unique blend of espionage and action with a familiar feel but different vision compared to the GTA games that came before it. However, despite its initial fanfare, the game's development journey was marred by redirection and, eventually, abandonment.
Obbe Vermeij, a former technical director at Rockstar North, revealed that Agent was initially codenamed Jimmy, an ode to the Scottish version of James, aligning with its James Bond influence. The studio envisioned it as a more linear game compared to GTA, featuring diverse locations such as a French Mediterranean city, a Swiss ski resort, Cairo, and a climax involving a space shootout with lasers. However, the development of Agent faced significant hurdles, chief of which was basically losing out to the next GTA game at the time. Originally, the plan was to split Rockstar North into two teams, with half working on GTA 4 and the other on Agent. But as GTA 4's development demanded more attention, Agent was increasingly seen as a distraction.