IGN The Agency Cancelled, Layoffs at SOE

Over 200 employees let go. Three studios closed.

[NIRVANArazor]

Well crap..

[BK-201]

The game didn't look like it would see a release date to be honest.

[gaffyh]

Wow, the Agency looked like it was near completion. They were doing a lot of PR work for it last year, but I can see why they cancelled it.

[MaxXAttaxX]

They were taking forever to finish that game.
I remember seeing the first footage released. But that was such a long time ago. I don't know what was happening.

Good thing they're "reorganizing" SOE.

[Electroshocked]

Yes well at least it's not Agent that's being cancelled, and maybe this means that Blade & Soul is coming to PS3 soon, I'm actually pretty excited about it. The only reason I don't play MMORPGs is because of the graphics and blade and soul looks amazing.

[malamdra]

I guess I have to remove it from The List

last we heard about this game was because most of the devs that finished working on DC Online were sent to this one, maybe they got sacked too

[DaTruth]

This bodes well for DC Universe though! Less competition in the PS3 MMO arena! When I saw the digital copy on the store, I almost bit!

If I thought I would have the time to make the most of the $15, it wouldn't even have been a question!

[Bricks]

I'm not surprised, seeing as the game looked like arse.

[SkyGamer]

That is the price of having all of those first party studios. You have to pay for their upkeep. WHy do you think that Capcom is outsourcing their projects? Even Inafune stated that they might only be able to work on 2 titles in house but outsourcing, they can have five or six projects at the same time. Layoffs suck tho regardless of who.

[Dee_91]

weew i thought that said the agent
i was like noooooooooooooooooo

[crxss]

gay. i was gonna pick it up.

[Vaud-Villian]

Seemed they learned from APB's lesson.

[DragonKnight]

I don't know... I smell April Fools.

[Petro]

Its been april fools day in Japan for over 15 hours already. But Sony is known to drop nasty surprises in April fools day. I remember the last surprise they dropped on us in April fools day... It was removal of Other OS! I was one of those who thought it was a joke. So this time I'm assuming its not a joke, it must be a way for Sony to drop the news in friendlier way.

[Theonetheonly]

NWOrder

[InTheKnow]

.
Nothing global about it. It's all American men and women losing their jobs while the trillion dollar JAPANESE company wastes hundreds of thousands of dollars a week fighting an anorexic 21 year AMERICAN kid in civil court. Go back to Japan Sony, we don't need you.

[nickjkl]

@intheknow

you know theirs a difference between the japanese yen and the american dollar

just so you know

i can see why they cancelled it it was announced in 2007 meaning they have been working on it for at least 4 years plus the time to get the original game engine and gameplay up

thats probably 5 or 6 years they have been working on this game and have not released it yet

[AAACE5]

That sux! I was still looking forward to the Agency! The chick on the cover got my attention because I always felt that Joanna Dark should have been designed like her.

Feel sorry for those who lost their jobs though... But things like this will continue for many companies trying to cope with a very unstable economy.

[ABizzel1]

If it is an April's Fool Joke, count the world fooled, because Gamefly has just removed the game from everyone's game Q.

[WhittO]

meh, wasn't really interested in that game anyway, they should focus that money/effort elsewhere really.

[Dragun619]

Its a shame, but considering they're reorganizing to

"Focus development resources on delivering two new MMOs based on its renowned PlanetSide and EverQuest properties."

Maybe they could bring the next Planetside or Everquest game on PC & PS3.

[Mozilla89]

That quote definitely did make me feel better. I'd be up for a new Planetside!

[HolyOrangeCows]

That's a shame. But Agency was obviously not getting anywhere. SOE certainly does need "reorganization"

[TheTwelve]

Sad. I wonder if at least the Facebook game is still up. O.o

12

[Vherostar]

April Fools maybe?? Honestly I don't believe a lot of news today.. This would be sad to see them all lose there job I hope its a joke its not nice losing your job in the current climate. I mean what the hell am I supporting these devs for if they losing there jobs?

[GodofwarGoty]

why would you think it is a april fools if you Read the article it even says what has happened and april Fools is tomorrow not today

[strifeblade]

its not a joke.

april fools is tomorrow

if it really was april fools, your statement would also be a joke

[DaTruth]

The gaming media has so little credibility already; they really shouldn't be playing April Fools!

[IHateYouFanboys]

"april fools is tomorrow"

now while the article is dated March 31, it only went up a few hours ago. thats all well and good for those in countries where its still March 31.....but the whole world isnt in the same time zone lol.

im in australia and its been April 1 for 10.5 hours already, so this article came out on April 1 to me.

now im not saying its an april fools joke, it obviously isnt - but dont be so quick to jump up and down saying someone cant even tell the date properly, when you cant even understand the concept of different times/days in different countries all over the world.

on topic - sucks for the people that lost their jobs. i wasnt interested in the agent in the slightest, but its never good to see studios close.

[VenomCarnage89]

most likely

[Montrealien]

it would be a horrible joke.

[No Way]

Until they surprise everyone with a revamped 'The Agency' .. huh?

[likedamaster]

Anything goes on this day.

[HardcoreGamer]

This is april fools joke?

[TurismoGTR]

it's a April Fools Joke.

[KotC]

Bummer guess Sony is down a couple studios.

[gamingdroid]

The Agent and the Agency, I always get them confused.

Which is which now?

[HaHa_Ostrich]

The Agent is being made by Rockstar Games. Not much is known about the project besides the fact ist PS3 exclusive.
The Agency is espionage-themed MMO FPS by Sony Online Entertainment developed for PC/PS3.

[DeadlyFire]

Well I heard Sony labeling something SNEA and I figured someone was getting a cut somewhere. Now I see it.

Focus being enhanced on Planetside Next and Everquest III. Not a bad choice. I'd take one of those two over the Agency anyday.

[Amphion]

Sad but it's ok. Sony can close half their studios and still have three times more than Microsoft.

[likedamaster]

April fools. Maybe you all should finally lighten up. lmao at all the serious comments.

[wwm0nkey]

Kind of saw that coming sadly :/

[Dart89]

Holy s**t for a second there i thought it said agent.

Well that sux game looks good.

[tdogchristy90]

Yeah it always had me kind of confused. Agent and agency were so close in name. Agent is the console cold war game? And agency was an mmo....that we heard less about than we have Agent? So yeah agency is gone but we still have agent.

[kaveti6616]

No, there is actually gameplay of the Agency.

Agent doesn't have anything more than title art.

[tdogchristy90]

@Kaveti, oh it did? I learn something new every day.

[wsoutlaw87]

ya me too i was pretty shocked

[Godmars290]

Would be nice if Sony just owned up and made it official. They're likely just going to let it hang on the vine a while longer.

[krouse93]

They did..

Below is SOE's statement in full:

As part of a strategic decision to reduce costs and streamline its global workforce, SOE announced today that it will eliminate 205 positions and close its Denver, Seattle and Tucson studios. 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. All possible steps are being taken to ensure team members affected by the transition are treated with appropriate concern.
This strategic decision will have no impact on SOE's current portfolio of live games; additionally SOE will transition development efforts for the Denver and Tucson studios' suite of products to its San Diego headquarters. This strategic alignment of development resources better positions SOE to remain a global leader in online gaming and deliver on its promise of creating entertaining games for players of all ages, and servicing the 20 million players that visited SOE servers in just the past year.

[Emilio_Estevez]

That sux, but hey, what can they do? Not making money means things need to change.

[badboy808]

april fools

[Dart89]

It's no april 1 yet you fool.

[kaveti6616]

it is somewhere...

Not that I think it's a joke.

[Raendom]

I don't think so but The Agency website is still up. Shame for sony to cancel a project this far into development, it looked basically finished from what I've seen... :(

[callahan09]

I doubt it. Making over 200 people believe they're losing their jobs is not a good April Fools joke.

[VenomCarnage89]

Who said they are making them believe anything?
They could have been informed about this before anything was released.

And for the record, I remember in the last few years, that Aprils fools jokes were started a few days before April fools, to throw people off.

[No Way]

Like venomcarnage89 said, the staff may be involved if it's a 'joke.'
I mean, it sure would be a surprise and a boost in 'The Agency' hype..
If, say, they were to show a revamped game at like, E3 or something.

[belal]

it's not april yet...

[GiggMan]

It is in Bangkok!

[Commander_TK]

Nonono, it's like the Stifmeister once said: BangCock!

[GiggMan]

Regardless, whenever you say Bangkok you got to say it loud!

[Commander_TK]

And punch a guy's balls at the same time.

[gamingisnotacrime]

i thought DC Universe success was going to give nice results...

tough times indeed

[telekineticmantis]

I remember when this game was announced, I thought it lookd cool, they should just delay it

[OC_MurphysLaw]

It was actually playable behind doors at E3 last year... kinda shocked its canned.

[Tommykrem]

Oh, well fudge you. Seriously. That's mean. You've managed to keep me semi-interested in that game for almost four years now! I guess there was reason to see this one coming.

[OC_MurphysLaw]

Ugghh... I hate hearing about layoffs. I thought with the success DC Universe Online appears to be having that The Agency would stand a chance to see the light of day. Everquest is probably long over due to be shut down to be honest.

[SnukaTheMan]

Just asking...

[OC_MurphysLaw]

@Snuka... I suppose you raise a valid question/point. DC Universe certainly has gotten decent praise in the press but I suppose that doesn't mean its selling well. But you must admit, it certainly "appears" to be doing well given its good will mentions it gets from the likes of G4TV and Podcasts like Weekend Confirmned... just yesterday one of the G4TV guys was signing its praises during show saying how he is addicted.

But you are right...for all we know its going down in flames just like the others. Its impossible to know with out Sony releasing any info.

[SnukaTheMan]

I have not seen a story here claiming dc online is a success....not being a troll im just curious because this would signal that in fact a MMO can thrive on a console....im missing conan on xbox 360 and in fact dc online looks very promising.

[Stealth20k]

another mmo strikes again

mmo's 99 percent of the time arent profitable

[GodofwarGoty]

people i am sure we all would like to beileve these is a april fools joke but it is not tomorrow is april and its not even Midnight yet so there is no point of even thinking any article posted today is a joke

[BeastlyRig]

This was coming to pc also..

[Fishy Fingers]

Curse of the MMO.

[Cartesian3D]

people its april first in here and in many other regions.. plz dont believe such a BIG news in this date..lol

I cant believe people believe that... and it can be a best advertising method on this date, all people think omg Agency is gone , then BAM !! april fools!!

[a_bro]

i feel sorry for the 200 people that just got layed off more so than the game.

this is the first time in a while i hear sony laying off devs.

[LordZ]

For a second I though that you were feeling sorry for the 200 people that were going to buy the game. LoL

[play17boy]

Damn, I felt this game had potential too!

[KROBOS9393939]

no it didn't look that good at all
and i guess SOE thought so too

[-EvoAnubis-]

That just sucks HARD. I really wanted to see what they were going to do with that game. I liked the fact that it would have even been doing things when you weren't playing, and then txting you results.

Damn.

[Freddy_Millz1]

They were too far in development bro, $5 bucks say they announce SOMETHING pertaining to it a little ways down the pipe.

[zoks310]

I love Sony, but i dont know about this one. Why cancel a FPS mmo? It is possible that such a genre could have been a huge success in western markets.
Me personally i would have bit the bullet and gave SOE one more year to finish it. It's obvious that it did not cost much to develop if it was canceled, so they would not have lost much if 1 more year was given.

[labaronx]

but i heard they were also developing Planetside next...

it really sucks that 200 people lost there jobs... best of luck to them

[a_bro]

thats probably the reason, the game was not up to par to SOE/Sony's standards.

[TheLastGuardian2010]

Didn't have potential from the get go..seriously mmo gaming for consoles just don't work.

[undercovrr]

Thank god...after the first Everquest, SOE has been a huge disappointment in the MMO market. MXO flopped, SWG flopped, DCUO is failing fast.

[negroguy]

That really sucks. I wanted to see how they would implement spying and FPS into a MMO. I didnt know they were working on two new MMOs which ill look forward to now.

[Freddy_Millz1]

I was JUST talking about this to one of my buddies! He asked me when this game was actually coming out and i said its not!
He fought me tooth and nail and even showed my the progress of the game over the years, my only defense after each of his rebuttles was; "Dude, that shits dead." Im 3-0 on my calls this week.

1)two days before Sucker Punch open at theaters; "...That shits gonna suck"

2)Watching Akira on blue ray last month with same buddy; "I bet they are gonna make a remake of this this year"

3)"agency is dead bro"

I have a gift!

[Rynx]

News on the Akira live action film has been circulating for a while now. Where you been?

[Freddy_Millz1]

Nether of us were keeping up on it. So it was a new gust of wind for the both of us recently.

[Oldman100]

What!?

[Daves]

Don't really care about the Agency, didn't know much about it tbh... but I do know I LOVED Planetside.

Would love to see a new version on PS3 / PC.

[Sarobi]

sad day

[Commander_TK]

Listen to some post-rock and smoke some weed then.

[Studio-YaMi]

No need to cry over spilt milk
there are much bigger fishes in the sea

I do feel bad for the employees that got layoffs,am not a cold hearted a**hole,but seeing as how things are going in the head-office in Japan,and the disaster that strike,this is bond to happen...

I just wish no big project get canned...

[outwar6010]

ffs i mean come on this was something i was looking forward to i would have paid for the monthly mmo charge thing and thats saying something

[Prototype]

I was hoping for this to come out, like an MMO version of Borderlands for pc/ps3. :( Well, there's always Socom 4 and Free Realms...

[tigertron]

I was just wondering about the Agency the other day and thought it was strange that it was announced years ago and we still didn't have a release date. I feel sorry for those staff that were laid off and I hope they can find work soon.

[dkgshiz]

That was bound to happen. The Agency was delayed forever. I always knew it would have been cancelled in the future.

[StarScream4Ever]

WARGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!

XO

[ivant]

What a shame

The Agency had potential to be a quirky fun shooter like Team Fortress.

But the powers that be decided to make it an MMO. Idiots.

Hope they still eventually release it in the future as PSN shooter game.

Also, shame about SOE employees losing their jobs, but you do have to read the market and learn from the competition, provide what the customers want, make those big bucks. Next.

[Da_Evil_Monkey]

my reaction- http://nooooooooooooooo.com...
the game looked interesting, kinda suspected it was cancelled though.

[MrBeatdown]

As long as it's MMOs getting canceled, I really don't care.

I would have been surprised if Agency actually saw the light of day.

[NeloAnjelo]

Saddened. Hope these guys find jobs elsewhere in the Industry. SOE has been quiet on The Agency Front. Wonder how much was invested in the game? Good luck and keep making great games.

[RockmanII7]

Well if they aren't gonna sell it, they should at least release it as a free download or something.

[SlyFoxC]

Operation Xbox360 FanBoy Trolling----Initiated

[qadsia123]

phew I thought they meant Agent...

[blackburn5]

Too bad about the layoffs and too bad about the game. Always sad to see a potential game and studios go down the drain

[JonnyBigBoss]

WOW. I thought that said The Agent. This stinks, but not as much as I thought.

[Platinum_k]

this is horrible!....
grrrr... oh the humanity!!!

[Kon]

Sad day for gamers, wait, no.

[ritz]

i smell an April fools joke

[dragonyght]

this gotta be some sad April fool jokes cmon now

[dragonyght]

or a prank to revive the hypes around the game

[xlockingupthesunx]

Was this the one that was going to be like TF2?

[gam3fr33k]

I thought this said The Agent at first lol. Though at the rate info is releasing, I wouldnt be surprised if it is...

[Reefskye]

SoE! I been waiting since December last year for more Planetside:Next info, now I hear your laying off staff n closing studio's your better not mess up PS:N like you did Planetside, Smedley your an arse!

[sethbalmore]

this is what happens when a developers game fails to sell and produce a profit. sales are everything despite what the drones say here at N4G

[stuntman_mike]

but this game didnt even get released. so who knows how much it would have sold.

[BrianC6234]

This was one MMO that looked like it would be good. Sony sure has cancelled a lot of good games the last few years.

[stuntman_mike]

I was wondering what happend to this game...now i know.

[rob6021]

I had no idea how the concept was supposed to work well on this game. It didn't seem to be open world, which is an MMO's strength usually. That must not be good for the people that have been working on this game forever, to never have it released, and then get sacked.

[Lord_Doggington]

SONY ONLINE ENTERTAINMENT BRING BACK THE DATING GAME!

[WetN00dle69]

Ohh wow, i was looking forward to this title.
This is sad new indeed.

[Spenok]

The ONLY reason I'm ok with this is because they said "new MMO" and "Everquest" in the same sentence xD

[Flare149]

I thought this looked better than DC Universe, but at least they're focusing on improving

[Pillage05]

Wow...sony going really out there with an April Fools joke eh? no? This looks legit though. Terrible timing of an announcement like this...lol

[Ninjamonkey82]

Aprils fool

[Drab]

f@ck f@ck f@ck!

[PS360PCROCKS]

I got the same news today, so awesome. I live in Denver too! Yay 100's more on unemployment

[Firstkn1ghT]

Smart move. The game looked like a broke back version of Perfect Dark Zero.

[Jazz4108]

Its a little to ambitious for the current gen hardware. open world and mmo does not sit well with barley 256mb of ram. this game would be fine on pc but I thought the texts to your cell phone about whats going on with the game is a little out there and would make me feel like an addict or something. I hope the 200 people did not loose there jobs and if they did may god be with them and there familys in a speedy back to work scenerio.

[Masterchef2007]

Hmm IGN is the first to report this. After the fiasco with Crysis 2 i dont think we should believe them.

LOL kidding. Sad that they cancelled this game i hope the same doesnt happen to AGENT though because we havent had any news from that game in ages. Would be funny if they announce it at E3 and they release it in fall.

[Figboy]

Yeah, it's unfortunate that so many people lost their jobs.

My old roommate who lives in Texas got hired by SOE, but it was delayed for a few weeks, then she was called recently and told that there had been layoffs, and she was one of them.

The Agency has been in development for a LONG time, and not much has come from it. I was intrigued by it, but I can't say it was high up on my list of games to get this year.

From what I hear, it was kind of going through development hell. I know MMO's take a long time to release, but The Agency has been slated for a release date for YEARS now.

SOE is pretty huge, and I think it may have gotten too big for the projects left at the studio. With DCUO and Free Realms launched, I imagine that most of the focus has shifted to keeping those two games on track, especially since they are pretty successful, and The Agency was an unknown quantity. The other MMO's in development seem to be ok (Planetside and Everquest).

Hopefully the laid off employees will find new work. I just got hired at Capcom, and I'm loving it so far, and hoping this will be a more lasting gig than I had at Konami last year.

[GodofwarGoty]

lol nice april fools joke first you say your old roommate got hired by SOE and then you say you got Hired by Capcom and then you say you used to work for Konami nice try

[Figboy]

I don't do April fools jokes. I also don't gain anything by lying or proving anything to you. You're free to not believe me, but that doesn't change the truth of my previous post.

[REDGUM]

I doubt very much if they'd toss this one in the bin. With millions spent already, they'd be mad not to release it. Sure it will be a way off now but i bet it does get a release date at some point. Let's wait and see.

[Scottyabanks]

I think a Ps3 EverQuest MMO would be amazing. Especially if it were cross platform with the PC.

[Xmanzerox]

Ha!!! That's a hilarious April Fools Joke. If that were true then my dad got laid off. That would mean we would be homeless within the next 6 months. Good one N4G, Good one. Ha!!!!!!

[Tzuno]

This is the true face of Sony from the beginning of ps3. Their policy sucks or maybe is April fools.

[Kahvipannu]

I'm sorry for the players who waited for this game, but I'm really sorry for the people who lost theyr jobs.

[ElementX]

I knew this would never see the light of day.

[sprayNpray]

Too all those who think this is an April fools joke, that's what we thought when Sony said they were removing OtherOS. Look how that turned out...