When it comes well-known video games to be stuck in development hell, the Rockstar Games-developed stealth action game Agent comes out near the top of the list. Announced all the way back in 2009, Rockstar has been quiet on Agent ever since leading many of those eager to get their hands on the game to fear that the title had perhaps been cancelled.

What's keeping hope alive for some, though, is that Rockstar Games' parent company Take-Two has been unwilling to give up the Agent trademark. Originally filing two Agent trademarks in 2013 under the "intent to use" category, Take-Two has now refiled those trademarks with the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

According to DualShockers, this has been done as the company exhausted all of its extensions on the previous Agent trademark (only five extensions are permitted, in six month intervals, after which a trademark is deemed 'abandoned.') So, to ensure that it protects both the Agent name or logo and that no other company can get away with using them for digital entertainment content and accompanying books and guides, Take-Two has had to refile.

While there's no indication that Agent is any closer to being released (if anything, it suggests that Take-Two and Rockstar are still deciding what to do), it's little wonder why fans continue to cross their fingers. The heap of Agent screenshots which were released a year ago seemed to indicate that the game was quite a significant way into development, renewing fans' interest. While the artist who released those images, Darren Hatton, was unsure whether the game would actually be released, many said that they couldn't believe that Rockstar would scrap all of that work.

Moreover, several other games that people have been waiting years for have recently been released or confirmed. Mirror's Edge Catalyst was released in May after almost a decade of waiting, Final Fantasy XV was released late last month after a decade in development, The Last Guardian was also just released after a decade and Rockstar Games recently announced Red Dead Redemption 2, putting years of rumors to rest. There's likely to be many gamers that want Agent to be part of this trend.

Unfortunately, because of Red Dead Redemption 2, it's unlikely that any announcements regarding Agent will be made any time soon, as Rockstar will not want to split people's interest between the two games. The trademark filings do inspire faith that the game hasn't been cancelled, though, so fans need not forget about the game just yet.