Writer for Half Life, Marc Laidlaw, has left Valve

[José Mourinho]

https://www.reddit.com/r/HalfLife/comments/3zzmi2/sent_an_email_to_marc_laidlaw_about_hl3_he/

From the thread:

Hi, so I'm gonna admit I'm kind of frustrated with Valve after 12 years of silence and avoidance towards my (our) favorite game which would be Half-Life, so I went ahead and asked Marc to speak about it once and for all.

Was it a dumb decision? Maybe, I was almost sure he would ignore me but to my surprise he responded.

Here's his response:

Basically, he doesn't know what Valve's plans for HL3 are either since he's not a Valve member any longer, meaning he's not a viable source of information regarding the subject anymore.

Don't know what to think about this anymore, honestly.

 

[Tismo]

Things are looking grim for HL3. A miracle's going to have to happen for it to not end up like Duke Nukem Forever.

 

[ActualKiwi]

Half Life 3....unconfirmed. As usual. Bah.

 

[getoffmylawn]

Things are lookng grim for HL3. A miracle's going to have to happen for it to not end up like Duke Nukem Forever.

I think comparing HL3 to Duke Nukem Forever is kind of a stretch because its never been confirmed that Valve has actually started work on HL3. Duke Nukem Forever was infamous because they started taking preorders for the game like back in 1998 or some shit. At least Valve has had some courtesy and hasn't dangled anything over our heads.

 

[Sanshain]

Half Life was innovative when it came out, over ten years ago. Half Life 2 was innovative when it came out. Then they were all copied a thousand times to the point that the original is impossible for anybody who is a veteran of modern FPS games to see as more than a gimmicky, derivative snore-fest. With that in mind, why would anybody really care about HL3 at this point? Why would they have cared five years ago? At least the people who constantly sperg about trying to get twenty-year-old Japanese exclusives a Western release can argue that their favorite titles are in some way unique at this point.

 

[AnOminous]

Things are looking grim for HL3. A miracle's going to have to happen for it to not end up like Duke Nukem Forever.

They could just announce they're not doing it rather than humiliate the franchise with some POS that has only the name.

 

[Mr. Duck]

I wonder what the fuck is going on in regards to HL3, i may have a theory about why they haven't done anything since EP2 and why Marc quit, it's knda dumb but...

Spoiler: EP2 spoilers

He/Valve just doesn't know how the fuck to continue the story/make another game after shoehorning Aperture Science in Episode 2

 

[Clown Doll]

innovative

Innovation =/= good game design, good audiovisual presentation, good game engine(that's worked as a base for hundreds if not thousands of mods that have incredibly vast playerbases worldwide). If Valve were to make Half-Life 3, it would be the flagship of the new Source engine, which would be probably awaited as much as HL3 itself, if not more at this point.

 

[KatsuKitty]

And on Jan 9, 2016 at 3:15 PM EST, I learned that HL3 would not be worth waiting for any longer.

 

[Too Many Crooks]

I gave up on HL3 5 or 6 years ago.

 

[Coster]

With that in mind, why would anybody really care about HL3 at this point? Why would they have cared five years ago?

It'd be totally cool if the story in Episode 2 ended there and they just didn't do another one, but they left off on a pretty dramatic cliffhanger and said that Episode 3 would arrive in Christmas of 2007 and they'd release a new episode every 6-8 months to continue it. Then they didn't, and understandably people were annoyed by it.

Personally I've invested myself into the story as much as I have just because I want to know how it ends. That, and there's a lot of things the universe still has in store in my opinion.

 

[Quijibo69]

You might get Left 4 Dead 3 in 2017... does anyone care.... anyone...

 

[Trans Fat 41g]

This wouldn't have been a crisis if they didn't try to shoehorn Portal into the continuation.

Leave the goofy parallel side stories to the fangirls.

 

[MrTroll]

Since his job was "writing" for a game that hasn't existed in any sense in over a decade, I like to think that he was basically getting paid to do nothing in exchange for not airing Valve's dirty secrets, a la Tyler Durden in Fight Club.

 

[Trans Fat 41g]

I wonder what the fuck is going on in regards to HL3, i may have a theory about why they haven't done anything since EP2 and why Marc quit, it's knda dumb but...

Spoiler: EP2 spoilers

He/Valve just doesn't know how the fuck to continue the story/make another game after shoehorning Aperture Science in Episode 2

This is the most sensible theory, that and it's always possible that Half Life was predicted to rack up expenses for Valve. In ways that could affect episodic content and overall quality of future sequels.

 

[Quijibo69]

I think we would have gotten more HL if the Steam service ended up flopping.

 

[Strelok]

This is the most sensible theory, that and it's always possible that Half Life was predicted to rack up expenses for Valve. In ways that could affect episodic content and overall quality of future sequels.

You also have to look at the broader picture. EP 2 was right around when steam was REALLY starting to make strides as a publishing platform, and those considerations would always get priority over developing a single game in house.

 

[DeadwastePrime]

The twist is he becomes an indie dev and makes half life 3 a thing

 

[millais]

Maybe on his deathbed, Laidlaw or Gaben or somebody will break NDA and leak the entire HL3 design document.

 

[Trans Fat 41g]

Maybe on his deathbed, Laidlaw or Gaben or somebody will break NDA and leak the entire HL3 design document.

I wouldn't be surprised if there were several drafts, none of them to be seen until dictated. Didn't any 'suspicious artworks' leak at all, or were they just really convincing fanart?