Sony cancels spy-themed MMO 'The Agency' after four years in development

01-Apr-2011 • Gaming

Sony Online Entertainment's innovative spy-themed MMO The Agency has been shelved in the copmany's restructuring announced today, reports the Escapist.

Sony first mentioned The Agency way back in 2007. A blend of shooter and stealth gameplay, the MMO was sometimes subtitled Covert Ops and featured an almost cartoonish feel similar to Valve's Team Fortress 2. The game would let you live out your James Bond fantasies as a spy working for one of two organizations that thankfully didn't seem to have a "good" or "bad" feel. The game was set to feature minigames like poker, which could then be used to unlock missions by winning or losing too much. Unfortunately, we will never be able to play a new and possibly innovative MMO because SOE announced today that The Agency is canceled. Sony's Seattle studio where work on The Agency was headquartered, will close and unless positions can be found for its former employees in Austin, Texas, everyone who worked on the game is out of a job.

"As part of this restructuring, SOE is discontinuing production of The Agency so it can focus development resources on delivering two new MMOs based on its renowned PlanetSide and EverQuest properties, while also maintaining its current portfolio of online games," the statement from SOE read today.

"All possible steps are being taken to ensure team members affected by the transition are treated with appropriate concern," the statement continued.

MI6 previously interviewed the game's design team, and had an indepth preview of the game back in 2008.