BioWare Once Wanted To Make James Bond/Jason Bourne: The RPG

Agent was the name of a "James Bond-like spy RPG" that was in development at BioWare, around the time Dragon Ages: Origins was released, circa 2009. This revelation comes from Trent Oster, a former employee, who recently discussed the cancelled game at length with Eurogamer.

But it was going to be more than just 007 in a role playing setting. They also wanted some Jason Bourne added to the mix as well. According to Oster:

"The concept was to do the other half of GoldenEye… The idea being that James Bond isn't just a gun that walks around the world and shoots people. He's a suave manipulator, he's a talented martial artist, he's a secret agent. We wanted to cross that 007 with Jason Bourne, where he's been modified in some way; you're not sure what, but he's definitely deadly.

We really wanted to push the acting side, the digital acting. We really wanted to be very high drama, very intense scenes. I always think of the scene in the second Bourne movie where Jason Bourne's choking the guy out with a book and he's right in his face and it's this very intense moment. That was one of the key things we wanted to carry off."

Sounds awesome, doesn't it? Unfortunately, EA wasn't behind on the project: "Fundamentally EA didn't believe in the concept… and if the company's not behind it, it doesn't matter how hard you struggle you just can't make it happen."

Though Oster is also quoted as saying that it was "a new and exciting project that failed to survive the recession". So it might not have been EA believing the concept wasn't sound, but more that it just wasn't the right time.

Then again, given how both the Bourne movies and the 007 reboot, which were both happening at the time,  it's still an odd call from the publisher.