390°

Ex-Rockstar Dev Sheds Light on Long Lost Game Agent's Development Troubles

Former Rockstar Games technical director Obbe Vermeij has shed light on the developer's long lost spy thriller Agent, which was announced as a PlayStation 3 exclusive in 2009 but has since disappeared.

Christopher786d ago

I know it's just one person's words, but love to see a game someone paid you to develop being called a 'distraction'.

isarai786d ago

Yeah, like I get that they want to prioritize their baby GTA but still, you're getting paid to do it.

Profchaos786d ago

I think that it's tied up in internal politics given that GTA 4 was being developed alongside it Rockstar knew where it's money was coming from and Jimmy took resources away from GTA which is probably why it was considered a distraction also reading his blog more it seems that a huge chunk of the team was burnt out in GTA in general by the time Sam Andreas shipped so Jimmy presented a more traditional level based game using different rendering techniques and tools something new that everyone wanted to work on rather than another GTA

OtterX786d ago

It's a real shame, I would have liked to see how Rockstar would have pulled off a "Bond" game, with their own twists and pedigree of polish.

porkChop786d ago

Sony didn't pay them to develop it. Sony abandoned LA Noire after spending $20M funding it. When Rockstar decided to publish the game Sony wanted their money back. Instead of paying out $20M (or possibly go to court) they agreed on an exclusive game instead.

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-Foxtrot786d ago

He calls it a distraction but I always assumed they were the ones who went to Sony and made the deal because they wanted L.A Noire to be multiplatform and moved Sony's deal with L.A Noire to something else.

Kind of their way of going "would you rather have a game developed by a studio outside Rockstar or a game made from us directly".

Profchaos786d ago

His blog is really fascinating an actual peak behind the curtain of Rockstar back in the day these guys are probably the most secretive development studio in existence

TheColbertinator785d ago

We all knew it was scrapped but the idea alone blew my mind. I had full confidence Rockstar could make Agent a great game.

RhinoGamer88785d ago

Rockstar leadership...the egos...must have been a huge challenge. Having worked in the games industry, I have to say it is exhausting constantly having to prove your point/position. Everyone on the team has a strong (I know best) opinion, and if are in leadership and don't abide them...look out. Now imagine managing the egos/dictates of the Houser bros!

60°

Rockstar launches official marketplace for mods

Rockstar has launched an official marketplace for "every server and every player" to buy mods: Cfx Marketplace.

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gamesindustry.biz
Christopher2d ago (Edited 2d ago )

I wonder how much of this isn't just taken work of others who have modded for free.

Edit: Also, great way for R* to take popular ideas and build them into GTAVI based on demand.

fr0sty14h ago

What I see happening here is, R* is going to ban mods in GTA6 UNLESS you buy them from the marketplace and R* then gets a cut of that sale.

ActualWhiteMan16h ago

Ah, perfect timing with them taking down the Bully online fan mod. Greedy a$$ company.

Christopher14h ago

It's okay as long as they get a cut of the money.

fr0sty13h ago

Expect R* to force it on you.

Snookies128h ago

Yep, right there with you. I'll happily donate to a mod creator if it looks really cool, or if I enjoy it. But expecting payment up front? Nope, not touching it.

IanTH13h ago(Edited 13h ago)

I'm not entirely sure how to read this, as it doesn't seem exactly like an exact parallel to Bethesda's paid mods shenanigans.

Rather than single player stuff, this appears to be aimed solely on Cfx Servers. From what I've gleaned, apparently Rockstar bought the Cfx mod team several years ago, coming a few years after weird contentions led them to ban a few of their members. Ultimately, the question is if they plan to keep this contained to only online/servers.

I have to guess to a degree yes. It'd be pretty hard to "force" paid mods for single player when modding files locally on your own machine, but much easier for servers they'll control. So perhaps this is their soft launch ahead of GTA6 online and they'll clamp down more tightly on non-official servers going forward? Ever since they've become a 1 or 2 property studio, I haven't really cared much for Rockstar stuff, so I'm not entirely up on everything surrounding this. Sounds like it has the potential to be problematic further down the line, but right now fairly easy to ignore...I think lol.

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50°

Kotick claims lawsuit objecting to MS-Activision deal was "tied to Embracer's desire to boost sales"

Former CEO describes lawsuit filed by Swedish pension fund as a "collateral attack" on Activision Blizzard.

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gamesindustry.biz
OpenGL1d 10h ago

Yeah, the Microsoft deal has DEFINITELY worked out for everyone.

galgor1d 7h ago

Can this mother fucker just get lost already

PRIMORDUS1d 6h ago

He belongs in here ⚰️, hopefully sooner than later.

MrDead15h ago(Edited 15h ago)

Kotick Made $155 million from MS in the buyout, the little b*tch needs to stop whining. Thanks to this Microslop deal and massive industry consolidation thousands upon thousands of devs and other workers lost their livelihoods. This greedy piggie pervert needs shut up and f-off.

40°

An Update to Our Shared Commitment to Safer Gaming

Discover how Sony Interactive Entertainment, Nintendo, and Microsoft continue to collaborate to improve player safety across our platforms.

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sonyinteractive.com