The Agency

Sony Online announced their super-spy shooter MMO The Agency over two years ago but since then the game seems to have more of a promise than an actual product with no indication of a firm launch date or even a beta test. Now a number of the team's senior staff members have departed Sony Online's Seattle studio to form a new company.

Eurogamer has confirmed that three of The Agency's senior team members, including SOE Seattle's studio director Matt Wilson, had left to form Detonator Games which seems to be one of the growing number of game developers devoted to making titles for social networks. Rumors that The Agency will undergo a development reboot following the departures were denied by Sony Online with a spokesperson saying, "the team in Seattle is still working diligently on this project and we're looking forward to showing you new content in the future."

The poor economy may not be as bad as it was just a few months ago but layoffs are still continuing in the game industry. Our sister site Massively has just gotten word from Sony Online Entertainment that they are planning to lay off 41 of their team members, or about 5 percent of the company's total workforce.

Sony Online is not commenting on what specific positions are being affected. Sony has development studios in several locations including San Diego, Seattle, Denver and Austin. Earlier this year they announced that they were shutting down support for The Matrix Online after July 31. Sony Online recently launched the free-to-play MMO Free Realms and has two announced games in development, The Agency and DC Universe Online.

Big Download is still counting down to the start of E3 2009 (less than a week to go now) with a series of features spotlighting the titles we want (or at least wish) we could see at the LA Convention Center. We have already given our wish lists for the FPS and action categories and today we look at the RPGs and MMO games that we would hope to catch a glimpse at during the show.

E3 2009 will not have appearances by NCsoft, Atari or Blizzard which means no demos of Aion , Guild Wars 2, Champions Online, Star Trek Online or (sniff) Diablo III. However we should have plenty in the RPG and MMO space to check out at the show. Come back later this week as we offer our final list of the rest of the game we want to see at the show.

Click on the image above to continue reading Countdown to E3 2009: The RPGs and MMO Games We Want To See

By John Gaudiosi

With a large number of massively multiplayer online (MMO) games in development using Epic Games' Unreal Engine 3 technology, Epic Games China has created the first development suite of tools catering to this growing sector of games. Atlas Technology consists of persistent world server technology and MMO games content creation and management tools that work directly with UE3. This new technology will provide developers with a solid foundation on which to build MMO games, casual and session based games, and community and e-commerce applications.

On Wednesday we introduced you to the concept of the BigAss 25, a list of the 25 most exciting PC games that we will be covering a lot of on our site. These are also the games that you as fans will be playing and talking about more than most. We started with the first 13 titles and today we conclude with the final 12 in alphabetical order

We have games that were released in 2004 and games that won't be released in, well, we just don't know yet. We have shooters, RPGs, RTS games, MMO titles and much more. Remember this list is not set in stone; we plan to revise the BigAss 25 list every few months.

Click on the image above to continue reading Big Download's BigAss 25 for Spring 2009 - Part 2

So far our multi-part look at the forthcoming PC games of 2009 have looked at action games, FPS titles and strategy-RTS games. Now two more popular genres of games, the RPG and the MMO, get the once over for our preview feature and there are some major games due for release in both categories in 2009. Once again we have snagged some exclusive screenshots from a couple of these game titles including one for Sony Online's super hero MMO DC Universe Online.

Stay tuned for Wednesday's final installment of our 2009 PC games preview feature as we go over a number of other titles we are looking forward to playing next year.

Click on the image above to continue reading 2009 (And Beyond) PC Game Preview: RPG-MMO Titles

Sony Online's upcoming casual MMO Free Realms will be using a free-to-play model with micro-transactions and in game ads. However, that was announced as part of the game's appeal to a large audience. In a new interview with Kikizo, it has been revealed that Sony Online may be using a similar model for their super-spy action-MMO The Agency.

According to a quote from Sony Online's Kevin O'Hara, "We're acutely aware that shooter players are not used to playing monthly fees, so I doubt we'll go for an outright $15 a month, which works on some of our other projects. So we're checking out Free Realms to see how they're going to do with their micro-transactions, and we might incorporate some of that. We'll definitely have some ad revenue models. The Agency's the perfect place for some in-game product placement." The long delayed game currently does not have a set release date.

[Via Massively]

Ever since Sony Online announced plans to release their spy action MMO game The Agency for both the PC and PS3 many journalists have asked if the game could have cross-platform play with players from both existing in the same world. Gamasutra states that the answer is, "Yes.". In fact, Sony Online's producer on the game, Matt Wilson, states, " . . . we're actually doing that at the office. Technology-wise, it's really not that complicated."

That doesn't mean the final version will have such support, however. Wilson states there are three major barriers keeping the dev team from making cross-platform play a reality. One is that it's easier to cheat in a PC game than in a console title. Another is the PC keyboard-mouse controls compared to a console's hand controller and the gameplay imbalance that's caused with that set up. Finally there's updating the game; PCs can quickly be updated with patches while console updates are slower because of the need for certification. So things are still up in the air on the cross platform feature. The Agency is currently set for a release sometime in 2009.

As you sit their reading this, sipping your caffeinated beverage of choice... an online battle rages. Subscription-based MMOs versus the microtransaction business model. Cage match. Fight to the death. Gamasutra conducted a round table about this battle royal with SOE's John Smedley, Three Ring's Daniel James and EA Mythic's Mark Jacobs. What unfolds makes it clear that the payment scheme for MMOs is evolving. Into what exactly is anyone's guess.

Most of the MMOs in the United States are subscription based. Almost everywhere else they are microtransaction based. The mentality here in the States however is starting to change. So much so that many developer are waiting until the last possible second to decide which route to take. For instance SOE has taken a "wait-and-see attitude" for their spy game, The Agency. They're waiting to see how another of their soon to be released MMOs -- Free Realms -- fairs, which uses something they call "freemiums." You can play for free, but you can also sign up for a club in game that gives you extras (for a fee, which is not unlike some other MMOs). They have built the flexibility into The Agency so they can go in either direction.

Ready to geek out with fellow EverQuest II, Vanguard, and Star Wars: Galaxies players? Sony has announced that registration for their sixth annual Sony Online Entertainment Fan Faire has begun.

The SOE Fan Faire will run from August 14 through August 17 at the Las Vegas Hilton. Tickets are $89 per person and come with a number of perks. Besides the chance to meet fellow SOE gamers, all ticket buyers receive the chance to participate in a number of betas, including Free Realms and the next EverQuest II expansion. Fun festivities such as a costume party, Grand Banquet, sneak previews of upcoming games, and a kickoff reception await attendees.

For Guilds of ten or more members, make sure to pre-register the All-Access pass online: Sony will grant a 50 percent price reduction for doing so.

Sony Online's upcoming MMO first person shooter The Agency is trying to succeed where its first attempt at such a game, the sci-fi themed title Planetside, failed. Instead of a massive multiplayer battlefield, The Agency is all about story and characters with your player taking on the role of a Hollywood movie-style super secret agency battling foes all over the world.

Sony Online recently released a new trailer showing off some of the operative's in The Agency's two super-spy organizations, UNITE and Paragon, doing what they do best (but some of the things they do aren't very nice). Big Download has the HD trailer available for you to grab which should give you an idea of what the developers want to do with the game. The Agency is due for release for the PC sometime in late 2008-early 2009.

Download The Agency Character trailer at Big Download now!

For those unfamiliar with the term, RMT, or Real Money Trading, is the practice of converting real-world dollars into in-game cash, predominantly in virtual worlds such as Second Life. It's a controversial phenomenon, accused by some of ruining virtual economies and supporting illegal sweat shop-like activity in foreign countries. However, there are a few legitimate, publisher-supported RMT trading houses, among them Live Gamer.

Already providing RMT services for players of Sony Online Entertainment's MMO EverQuest 2, Live Gamer has announced the expansion of its services to SOE's upcoming MMOs The Agency and Free Realms. This is welcome news, as it confirms the likelihood of the two titles' free-to-play nature, as opposed to a subscription-based model. For a little more in-depth look at this announcement, check out our sister site, Massively.