Ex-Rockstar North dev spills on Agent, abandoned zombie game, and more in fascinating new blog
The world has been given a tiny glimpse into the uber-secretive world of Grand Theft Auto developer Rockstar North thanks to a fascinating new blog from former technical director Obbe Vermeij, who, in just a few short weeks, has shed light on the studio's cancelled spy game Agent, discussed a zombie game abandoned by the company after it was deemed to be too «depressing», and more.
Vermeij served as technical director at Rockstar North from 1995 (when the studio was still known as DMA Design) to 2009, meaning his time at the company spanned the creation of Grand Theft Auto as a series right through to Grand Theft Auto 4 and its DLC.
Since launching his blog earlier this month, Vermeij has been sharing anecdotes covering a number of Rockstar games, touching on everything from the company's streaming tech for Grand Theft Auto 3 — which struggled enough that the art team was forced to shove a building in the middle of a long stretch of Portland road to ensure players wouldn't run out of city while loading continued — to early efforts at implementing multiplayer in GTA 3.
In the latter case, Rockstar is said to have experimented with a «basic death match» that would let players drag each other out of cars and kill to earn points — a mode that «worked but [was] glitchy», eventually being abandoned as the team was «running out of time».
Perhaps the most interesting anecdotes shared so far, however, relate to the games that might have been; one of these includes Rockstar's notorious Agent, a spy game set during the Cold War in the late 70s that was formally announced as a PS3-exclusive in 2009 and then, after years of silence, simply fizzled out into obscurity, its web pages and trademarks abandoned.
According to Vermeij's
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