Above: A screenshot from a CG teaser for The Agency that was released during E3 2009. Work on the spy-themed MMO for the PS3 and PC has been cancelled
What started off as a rumor spread by Duke Nukem creator George Broussard on March 30 turned out to be true. Sony Online Entertainment has confirmed that it has laid off 205 employees and closed three different studios in Seattle, Denver, and Tucson. As a result of the recent layoffs, The Agency will also be cancelled...
M2G Writes: SOE president John Smeldey has been speaking regarding the companies upcoming MMOs, and he has revealed that Free Realms will be the next title from the developer to arrive on PS3.
Game Informer: While it may not garner as much attention as other publisher-centric events such as BlizzCon, Sony Online Entertainments annual Fan Faire is still going strong.
M2G Writes: SOE will finally release its espionage MMO, The Agency in the second half of next year, further delays permitting.
Yesterday, Sony Online Entertainment made their first foray in Facebook gaming with The Agency: Covert Ops. The game, developed by SOE Tucson, is a tie-in project to The Agency, Sonys forthcoming massively multiplayer online FPS for PlayStation 3 and PC. Covert Ops is a social media action game, allowing players to take part in secret missions, mini-games, and extensive avatar customization.
Sony Online Entertainment has launched The Agency: Covert Ops, its first game for the social network world of Facebook. The game is free-to-play, with optional transactions found in the Black Market. Players may choose from five classes, customize their character with an array of clothing and other choices, and recruit their Facebook friends to join their spy network.
SCRAWL's Sal writes: New information of Sony Online Entertainment's massively multiplayer online game The Agency is set to arrive very soon or in like weeks, if SOE President John Smedley is to be believed.
Oli Welsh from Eurogamer writes: Eurogamer has learned that several senior staff have left Sony Online Entertainment's Seattle studio - the developer currently making espionage MMO The Agency for PC and PS3 - including the studio head. Studio director and executive producer Matt Wilson, art director Corey Dangel, and producer John Smith left at the start of July to form a new studio called Detonator Games, as confirmed at the Detonator Games website.
Sony still hasn't decided whether PS3 and PC owners of upcoming super spy online action shooter The Agency will be able to play together.
PS3Vault: 'The site for Sony's upcoming massively multiplayer online shooter, The Agency, has changed. Last time we reported on it, it was pretty bare, but for a pretty damn great animation of a smoking gun (image above) and a few small pieces of info on the two sides you'll be able to play as in the game. Now, however, it looks completely different and has some more interesting sections.'
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