A former developer at Rockstar has disclosed information about several projects that were in development but ultimately canceled. These projects include Agent, an action game with a secret agent theme that was planned to be a PlayStation 3 exclusive, and an unnamed zombie survival game set on a Scottish island.
The revelations were made by ex-technical director Obbe Vermeji, who has recently started updating a blog with his experiences at Rockstar North. Vermeji had been with the studio since 1995, back when it was known as DMA Design, and departed in 2009 after the release of GTA IV.
Agent was announced in 2007 as a PlayStation-exclusive IP, but details emerged in 2009 before the game disappeared. It may have officially died in 2018 with the expiration of the trademark. The game was intended to be level-based, with settings in a Swiss ski resort, Cairo, a French Mediterranean city, and a final space station level, akin to Moonraker rather than Casino Royale. Vermeji worked on the game for "over a year" before Rockstar decided to focus on GTA IV.
Vermeji stated, "The game wasn't progressing as well as we'd hoped. It was inevitable that eventually the whole company would have to get behind GTA IV. We tried to cut the game down in an attempt to get the bulk of it done before the inevitable call from [Rockstar New York] would come. We cut out an entire level (I think Cairo) and maybe even the space section." Unfortunately, the studio couldn't finish it in time, leading to it being handed off to another internal studio.
Following the success of Vice City, the idea for a zombie game emerged as a way to expand on the existing code base. Vermeji explained, "After Vice City in 2002, there was a feeling within North that it would be refreshing to work on something different. Something outside of GTA. Some of the artists were interested in creating a zombie survival game, while the programmers were more drawn to fantasy. It was not entirely clear why that was the case."
The game was set in an open-world environment on a desolate, fog-covered island, where players had to fend off constant zombie attacks and keep various vehicles fueled in order to navigate the terrain. However, development was abandoned after just one month, as Vermeji recounted, "The concept felt bleak and lost momentum quickly. Even the original proponents of the idea lost interest. We ultimately shelved the project and turned our focus to San Andreas."
Vermeji has since closed down the blog after receiving a brief email from Rockstar North. He stated that the blog was not worth upsetting his former colleagues in Edinburgh, so he decided to wind it down. Vermeji expressed a desire for Rockstar to share details about the trilogy's development, but does not anticipate it happening anytime soon. He mentioned leaving a few personal anecdotes on the blog before considering revisiting the topic in the future.
Editor's P/S
As a Gen Z netizen, I am intrigued by the untold story behind Rockstar's cancellation of the GTA follow-up, Agent. The new revelations shed light on the reasons behind the game's demise, and it's fascinating to learn about the challenges the developers faced. It's also interesting to hear about the unnamed zombie survival game that was in development, as it gives us a glimpse into the creative process at Rockstar.
Overall, I think it's a shame that Agent was never released, as it sounds like it had the potential to be a great game. However, I understand the challenges that the developers faced, and I'm glad that they were able to focus their efforts on GTA IV, which turned out to be a huge success. I'm also curious to learn more about the zombie survival game, and I hope that Rockstar will share more information about it in the future.
