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The Agency: The Agency's End Has Come

SBFordSBFord Former Associate EditorMember LegendaryPosts: 33,129

Yesterday it was announced that Sony Online Entertainment was making significant cuts to its personnel and closing three of its studios. In addition to this sobering news came the announcement that development on The Agency had ceased. In his latest column, MMORPG.com Industry Relations Manager Garrett Fuller takes a look back at The Agency. Check it out!

The idea behind a spy MMO was not too surprising. It was the one genre that really haddn’t been done. When the game was presented they had some amazing ideas. The fact that you would have a team of operatives working while you were off line who would then text you when your super spy car was completed. Having casinos in the game in the true James Bond style where players could play poker or other games. All of these ideas sounded great and back in 2007 they were revolutionary. The game had a solid demo with a fight in an alleyway against some crazy gang members who looked more steampunk than spy. Still, it all worked very well.

Read more of Garrett Fuller's The Agency's End Has Come.

The Agency The Agency


¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 


«134

Comments

  • toljartoljar Member UncommonPosts: 240

    In the end they just had to make way for Planetside: Next

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  • DeathTrippDeathTripp Member UncommonPosts: 263

    The end came before there was ever a real beginning. Such a shame. But such is the market.

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  • DelphosDelphos Member UncommonPosts: 46

    I`m the only one to realise this is an april fools joke?

  • CaskioCaskio Member UncommonPosts: 339

    Originally posted by Delphos



    I`m the only one to realise this is an april fools joke?


     

    Staff cuts and the closure of 3 studios is not a joke.  You must have missed the news yesterday with SoE lay off and studios closings.

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  • TweFojuTweFoju Member UncommonPosts: 1,236

    actually i think this one is not april's joke, as it is mentioned cancelled yesterday (31st March)

    So What Now?

  • IadienIadien Member UncommonPosts: 638

    Originally posted by Delphos

    I`m the only one to realise this is an april fools joke?

    Do you honestly think SoE would joke about people losing their jobs?

    Your post must be a joke.

  • TweFojuTweFoju Member UncommonPosts: 1,236

    cmon easy on the guy, his post was an April's joke and he got you =P

    So What Now?

  • FdzzaiglFdzzaigl Member UncommonPosts: 2,433

    Too bad, this game did sound very interesting, though I never really noticed a lot of info around about it.

    Besides, I think we need more shooter MMO's.

    Feel free to use my referral link for SW:TOR if you want to test out the game. You'll get some special unlocks!

  • gaeanprayergaeanprayer Member UncommonPosts: 2,341

    This isn't an april fool's joke, it was mentioned well before today in an earlier article where Sony cut production of The Agency as a 'strategic move' to consolidate resources, or some such.

    "Forums aren't for intelligent discussion; they're for blow-hards with unwavering opinions."

  • joeballsjoeballs Member UncommonPosts: 163

    It looked like it was going to be a crappy game anyway. But only they know, and here's some proof. :)

  • yarubpupyarubpup Member UncommonPosts: 33

    Yeah but it proves the point that a news sight shouldn't mix "Jokes" with real content.

    You end up with people (rightfully or not) bent out of shape like in here.

  • finnmacool1finnmacool1 Member Posts: 453

    Originally posted by yarubpup

    Yeah but it proves the point that a news sight shouldn't mix "Jokes" with real content.

    You end up with people (rightfully or not) bent out of shape like in here.

    This isnt a news "sight" its a gaming site.

  • Hellfyre420Hellfyre420 Member Posts: 861

    Sad to see it go but i figured it was vaporware for a long time.. Such a good premise too, hopefully someone later on actually makes a spy/espianoge MMO.. I'd be all over it.


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  • GruugGruug Member RarePosts: 1,793

    As was announced at the beginning, the game sounded like it would be a lot of fun and something different then the tired old hack and magic fantasy games. However, as time passed and as the article here mentions, it seems the focus of the game changed for part spy/stealth/action game to stealth back to only FPS shooter. Too bad as the first, spy/stealth/action, was what set it apart.

    Let's party like it is 1863!

  • sibs4455sibs4455 Member UncommonPosts: 369

    Originally posted by Hellfyre420

    Sad to see it go but i figured it was vaporware for a long time.. Such a good premise too, hopefully someone later on actually makes a spy/espianoge MMO.. I'd be all over it.

     You and about ten others, this would have been a niche game anyway.

    Bad discisions and mismanagement costs job losses,SOE is full of both so are a few other so called AAA companys. My opinion ' we have already seen layoffs in mmo and game companys, the pie doesnt have slices for bad companys to take a piece of. Just like in my work (Engineer) if i was no good at my job or i made mistakes then myself and my team would suffer.'

    This just has'nt happened there would have been team meetings everyweek with updates on the game and overall progression of the work, in the end  someone had had enough of the bullshit, like i said stinks of mismanagement.

  • Viper_OneViper_One Member Posts: 49

    SOE's business model, their trend data for how they manage their games, and Smedley's consistant and unbroken record of being a pathological liar was obviously not enough to tell people something like this would happen to begin with.

     

    Well, for some of us anyway.

     

    Flashback, 2007:

     

    http://www.mmorpg.com/discussion2.cfm/thread/140108/page/1

     

    Have a nice day.

  • charlespaynecharlespayne Member UncommonPosts: 381

    Dont you people notice the date this was posted?

  • ValeranValeran Member Posts: 925

    Originally posted by charlespayne

    Dont you people notice the date this was posted?

    So?  The world already knows about SOE layoffs and the demise of The Agency.  This is not a joke.  It happened.

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    "SOE has probably united more gamers in hatred than Blizzard has subs"...daelnor

  • desaster02desaster02 Member UncommonPosts: 20

    actually thats not a joke massively.com had since yesterday a post about it

    THATS NOT A JOKE!

  • SovrathSovrath Member LegendaryPosts: 32,780

    Originally posted by charlespayne

    Dont you people notice the date this was posted?

    coincidence? yes. Joke? probably not.

    Here is a Eurogamer article that was posted yesterday.

    http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2011-03-31-sony-confirms-the-agency-is-cancelled

    IGN as of yesterday

    http://ps3.ign.com/articles/115/1158571p1.html

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  • BravnikBravnik Member UncommonPosts: 158

    Let me guess. Smedley didn't get fired I'm sure. SOE will be SOE until he is then we might actually see something good come out of SOE.

  • AlamiasAlamias Member Posts: 20

    As 205 people can vouch for,  the layoffs, studio closings, and cancelation was not a joke.

  • Amphib_IanAmphib_Ian Member Posts: 170

    I had never heard of this and now I wish I could have continued to not know because the first thing I hear about it is its cancellation :(

    image

  • bigcrackerbigcracker Member UncommonPosts: 89

    Funny cause this story broke yesterday on March 31st  not april 1st

  • tcuvilliertcuvillier Member Posts: 11

    Originally posted by sibs4455



    Originally posted by Hellfyre420

    Sad to see it go but i figured it was vaporware for a long time.. Such a good premise too, hopefully someone later on actually makes a spy/espianoge MMO.. I'd be all over it.

     You and about ten others, this would have been a niche game anyway.

    Bad discisions and mismanagement costs job losses,SOE is full of both so are a few other so called AAA companys. My opinion ' we have already seen layoffs in mmo and game companys, the pie doesnt have slices for bad companys to take a piece of. Just like in my work (Engineer) if i was no good at my job or i made mistakes then myself and my team would suffer.'

    This just has'nt happened there would have been team meetings everyweek with updates on the game and overall progression of the work, in the end  someone had had enough of the bullshit, like i said stinks of mismanagement.


     

    You know about the quake that hit Japan right ? And it's kinda hard to keep production running what with the power rotation. Sony got hit hard.

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