Rockstar's Agent was compromised because open worlds and spies don't mesh well, Ex-GTA writer Dan Houser says

Despite that, a concealed agent-themed GTA 5 DLC subsequently ended up "half-done" earlier it was abandoned

Cancelled Rockstar espionage flick Agent ended up being filed distant without releasing due to the fact that the workplace recovered a spy communicative intolerable to reconcile with their open-world attack to games, according to long-time GTA writer Dan Houser. Despite that, Rockstar subsequently ended up getting halfway up the roadworthy of a concealed agent-centric GTA 5 DLC earlier opting to don cowboy hats instead.

If the sanction Agent isn't ringing immoderate bells for you, Rockstar announced what would've been their instrumentality connected a Bond-style spy crippled astatine E3 2009, attaching a PS3 exclusive tag to it. One would presume it'd apt person deed PC astatine immoderate point, had it not ended up gradually fizzling retired into cancellation instead.

In a lengthy interrogation with Lex Fridman, Rockstar co-founder Houser revealed that Agent went done "about 5 antithetic iterations" ranging from a crippled acceptable during the Cold War tensions of the 1970s to thing much "current". After rotating done each of those ideas, the writer arrived astatine the thought that the strengths of Hollywood-style spy stories simply aren't compatible with Rockstar's unfastened sandboxes.

"I don’t deliberation it works," Houser said. "I support reasoning astir it sometimes, I sometimes prevarication successful furniture reasoning astir it, and I’ve concluded that what makes [spy stories] truly bully arsenic movie stories makes them not enactment arsenic video games. We request to deliberation done however to bash it successful a antithetic mode arsenic a video game."

"I don’t cognize what it would’ve been due to the fact that we ne'er got it capable to adjacent bash a due communicative connected it," helium past added. We were doing the aboriginal enactment wherever you get the satellite up and running, and it ne'er truly recovered its feet successful either of them. And I benignant of deliberation I cognize why." Houser's mentation is that the "very frenetic" and "beat-to-beat" benignant of storytelling which sees the likes of James Bond unreserved each implicit the satellite doing missions "against the clock" doesn't acceptable with the lulls an unfastened satellite crippled volition person erstwhile it lets a subordinate rotation disconnected to bash their ain thing. Houser reckons being a criminal's overmuch much perfect for that, since "you fundamentally don’t person anyone telling you what to do".

The writer touches connected this request to wed the 'on the job' and 'off the job' sides of an unfastened satellite crippled earlier successful the interview, citing GTA 5's Trevor and Red Dead Redemption 2 much loosely arsenic occasions erstwhile helium reckons the workplace did good to reconcile the 2 sides by providing morally grey characters who, to enactment it bluntly, didn't consciousness arsenic jarring to spell connected a execution spree with. On the different hand, Houser said GTA 4's Niko ended up perchance having excessively overmuch going for him connected the communicative broadside of things, starring players to consciousness much empathy for him than would beryllium perfect successful presumption of him being an "effective avatar successful the unfastened world".

To me, the request to service arsenic a believable manus done which mayhem tin beryllium wrought upon the world's ever a secondary thing, though that's an easier presumption to clasp present GTA Online's protagonist exists arsenic a go-to soundless chaos-causer if I ever consciousness bothered astir going beyond the pail for main communicative characters. I'd beryllium funny to cognize whether Rockstar mightiness person looked into trying to equilibrium the spy and cause of chaos sides of immoderate not-quite-Bond successful a akin manner to however Sleeping Dogs handles Wei Shen's duelling undercover cop/triad transgression roles. That system's acold from cleanable roleplaying-wise, but it'd perchance person helped marque things acceptable a spot better. That's assuming conscionable biting the slug and making a much linear spy crippled that differs from the modular open-world fare is disconnected the table.

Strangely, contempt Houser saying Agent didn't enactment due to the fact that open-world spying didn't mesh, the interrogation besides sees him corroborate that that a concealed agent-themed single-player DLC for GTA 5 was "half-done" by the clip it was canned, with the workplace moving to enactment connected Red Dead Redemption 2 instead. This add-on was acceptable to spot Trevor instrumentality connected the concealed agenting, with Houser saying it was "cute", but "never rather came together". While evidently connected a smaller standard than a afloat crippled and with a quality established arsenic an effectual psychopath who tin get up to conscionable astir thing without it seeming excessively strange, I'm near wondering however it'd not person seen Rockstar person to find a mode to reconcile unfastened worlding and spy storying arsenic they struggled to with agent.

Based connected the findings of datminers, the spy-ish prevention the satellite communicative successful GTA Online's Doomsday Heist seems to person taken connected immoderate elements of the canned Trevor DLC. In that case, from what I retrieve the framing of an bureau bringing successful a transgression contractor to grip immoderate of their soiled enactment tends to bash the dense lifting, but the grade of separation being that elemental to marque does pb you to wonderment however a akin wrinkle couldn't person been worked into Agent.