The year was 2009. During the same press conference that Sony announced The Last Guardian—then known as Project Trico—a brand new Rockstar Games title was revealed. Named Agent, it wasn't any ordinary title, it was a PS4 exclusive that sounded like a dream come true to the ears of PlayStation fans.
Its reveal garnered widespread attention. Little was said during its reveal, and even less was shown. But the mere fact that it was a Rockstar Games title being made exclusively for PlayStation was enough to make it one of the most desired titles at the time; it would make almost every 'most anticipated' list for the years that followed, and be used as ammunition for console wars.
Agent was originally supposed to be a counter-intelligence game set during the Cold War, a setting uncommonly explored by AAA games. It's unclear if it was going to be set in an open-world, but what we do know is it was heavily story-oriented, possibly with the same gameplay mechanics as Manhunt. It was also being sold as a game that was going to push the PS3, with a lead developer going as far as to say that the game wouldn't work anywhere else—that cell processor, though.
Surprisingly enough, that's about the full extent of what we know about Agent. The only tangible evidence that it ever even existed are four unimpressive in-game screenshots from an early build of the title in development.
In a way similar to The Last Guardian, Agent would be expected at subsequent press conferences, but would fade out of existence. It's been nine years since that first day that Agent first made headlines. As the years have gone on rumors have whirled about, but there's been very little to hold on to. Both Rockstar Games and Sony have been tight-lipped about the title. It's almost as if they want to forget its announcement ever happened.
At this point many believe that Agent is dead. It's simply been too long with too little information. But there are some of us that believe it's simply been shelved until the time is right. The concept certainly stands out from the sea of other AAA titles, and it'd be a shame to never see it to fruition.
Take-Two refiled Agent's trademark today, something it initially did in mid 2013. This news has gotten the hopes up of many. The unfortunate thing is that this will be the last time it can extend the trademark of the title. If we see it again down the road, after Red Dead Redemption 2's release in late 2017, it might just appear with a new name. At that point it could even be something completely different than what we first saw.
We don't know where you are, Agent, but know that we haven't forgotten you.
