For now and likely for the foreseeable future, gamers will undoubtedly associate the name Rockstar with Red Dead Redemption 2. However, what some people may not realize is that Rockstar has been working on another game as well. Or, should I saw, it *was* working on another game. As of November 19, 2018, the trademark for Rockstar’s and Take-Two Interactive’s long-in-gestation ‘Agent’ game project has been effectively abandoned.
Rockstar’s Agent No Longer in Development
If you’ve never heard of Agent before reading this post, that’s hardly surprising. Take-Two Interactive originally unveiled Agent during E3 nearly a decade ago back in 2009. In Agent, players would have participated in clandestine missions set during the Cold War.
Rockstar has said virtually nothing about Agent since its original announcement, though the game still has a page on the studio’s website. A former Rockstar artist leaked some concept art for Agent back in 2015, but that’s about it. Neither Rockstar nor publisher Take-Two Interactive have given any official update on Agent in the past nine years.
Now, an updated trademark application for Agent reveals the trademark has been cancelled. The application specifically lists the Agent trademark as abandoned. This tells us that Take-Two didn’t even try to renew it this time around.
Of course, it’s unlikely that too many folks will mourn Agent’s unceremonious passing. Rockstar clearly made the right call putting its full effort into Red Dead Redemption 2. Speaking of which, RDR2’s online component, Red Dead Online, officially launches today (for some people). The full patch notes for the initial online launch can be read here.
Red Dead Online allows existing RDR2 players to explore an online multiplayer version of the game’s open world. Players can undertake missions, form posses, and roam the digital Wild West to their heart’s content. Initially, only RDR2 Ultimate Edition owners can play the online mode, but all players will have access by November 30.