Why Cancelled Rockstar Game Wasn't Released, Dan Houser Speaks Out

In all of the hype around Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead Redemption, it's easy to forget that Rockstar has worked on a lot of other games over the years, not all of which have seen the light of day.

L.A. Noire, Manhunt, Max Payne, Midnight Club and even that mad table tennis game for the Xbox 360 were all developed by one of Rockstar's studios (with plenty more on that list), though that number can be doubled by cancelled games that we were never able to get our hands on.

One of the most intriguing has always been Agent, said to be an attempt to create and open-world spy game, that was originally teased all the way back in 2007, before the trademark was eventually abandoned (presumably when work was) in 2018.

Set during the Cold War in the 1970s, it was supposed to take the player to "the world of counter-intelligence, espionage and political assassinations," which sounded really cool when there was a chance to play it.

Now, co-founder of Rockstar Games Dan Houser, who has since left the company, shared some insight into exactly why it fell by the wayside - and happily, it's one of the least annoying reasons I can think of.

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Open-World Spy Games Don't Work

Houser appeared on Lex Fridman's podcast to discuss all things Rockstar, when the topic of Agent came up as part of a wider conversation on open-world games (as first reported by Push Square).

"It had about five different iterations. I don’t think it works, I concluded – and I keep thinking about it sometimes, I sometimes lie in bed thinking about it – and I’ve concluded that what makes them really good as film stories makes them not work as video games. We need to think through how to do it in a different way as a video game," Houser said.

Houser then went on to argue that the essence of a spy movie doesn't gel particularly well with an open-world setup, something that they failed to overcome whilst working on the game.

"Those films are very, very frenetic, and they’re beat-to-beat. You’ve got to go here and save the world. You’ve got to go there and stop that person being killed, and then save the world. An open-world gave does have moments like that when the story comes together," Houser said.

"But for large portions, it’s a lot looser, and you’re just hanging out and doing what you want. I want freedom, I want to go over here and do what I want [...] and that’s why it works well being a criminal, because you fundamentally don’t have anyone telling you what to do.

We try and create external agency through these people kind of forcing you into the story at times. But as a spy, that doesn’t really work because you have to be against the clock. So I think for me, I question if you can even make a good open-world spy game."

And with that, another game fell by the wayside, but Rockstar's take on spies and their activities would likely have been pretty cool, particularly considering the great job they did with L.A. Noire.