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[ashecitism]

http://www.gameinformer.com/b/features/archive/2017/01/11/searching-for-half-life-3.aspx

I began working on this article on November 18, 2014. I aimed to talk to as many Valve employees as I could, but I knew the story needed two pieces: an interview with Gabe Newell, the founder of Valve, and information on what the hell was going on with Half-Life 3. Fun fact: Whenever Game Informer teases a new cover announcement, Half-Life 3 is almost always one of the first guesses. This guess is now made mostly in jest, but for years, people thought we would break that story.

On my first day of actively working on my piece, I sent emails to 20 to 30 people. Roughly 70 percent were still employed by Valve, and the remainder had either left the company or worked with it on Half-Life-related titles. I had a good feeling about getting a lead. Someone would talk. They always do. I just needed one person to open up.

The first response I received, from a person who worked on Half-Life's episodic content, yet didn't want to be named, said ”No comment."

Minutes later I received an email that said, ”Good luck with the story. Out of respect to my friends and family at Valve, it wouldn't be right for me to say anything. Sorry!"

In the months that followed in early 2015, I reached out to another dozen-plus people. Again, I received nothing but rejection or silence. I was crushed. All of my research and prep work would amount to nothing. I shelved the story and moved on to other writing ventures. A few months went by, and in the summer of 2015, I received an email from someone I originally pitched but never heard back from. The subject line read ”Half-Life 3."

The person said they could talk to me for 30 minutes, but they wanted to remain anonymous. The interview was a real eye-opener. This person didn't hold back from discussing anything. I finally had the lead I needed for the framework of the story.

The one source wasn't enough, though. I at least needed more people to verify what was said. I again ran into a brick wall of ”no comments" and ”no thank yous."

The idea of running an interview with unverified information kills me a little (especially given the current state of political journalism), but I do trust this source, and believe what was said to be truthful. Even with my approval, take what is said with a grain of salt. Unless other Valve employees come forward and say, ”Yes, all of that is true," or ”This one part is a little off; here's what really happened," we just won't know the validity of what was said.

Everyone wants Gordon Freeman's story to continue. People want the series to reach the number three, either as an episode or a full-fledged sequel. How real are those chances?
There is no such thing as Half-Life 3. Valve has never announced a Half-Life 3. The closest they've come is after Half-Life 2, they said there would be three episodes. We only got two of those. That is arguably an unfulfilled promise. Anything else that we might think about as a full game or sequel has never been promised. I only mention that because it's sometimes frustrating when people sort of assume or have wishful thinking about the future. Because they want to speak about the future, the fantasy starts to become real in their minds, even though they have a completely different form on the developer side.

So they actually came close to making it happen?
Imagine you are a game developer, and you manage to get a job at Valve. You go through the interview process and talk to a whole lot of people and nobody vetoes you. You manage to join up. Let's pretend it's 2010. You join the studio. You remember the people you interviewed with and some people you may have spent more time with or less. You have a person you kind of talk with from your hiring process, and then you are just kind of there one day, and you have to figure out how you are going to fit in. What are you going to do? You talk with some of the people you talked to before during the interview process. What are they working on? They are undoubtedly involved with something, so maybe you help them with their thing; whether that's the Steam platform, or Dota, or the speculative stuff going on.

It's almost like a university up there. At some point you think to yourself, "Okay, I'm inside Valve, I can start asking questions like, "What's going on with Half-Life?" The person you are talking to is probably going to say, ”I'm not really worried about that right now. I need to get another game out. You should talk to this person or that person or that person." Time goes by and maybe you eventually start a developer relationship with someone who can give you access to some of those people. You talk to them and learn people may be tinkering with some things, but most of the stuff is already dead or going nowhere. Maybe the group is five or eight people. And there are other people five doors down that may be cynical that that is going on at all. You can find every flavor of sensibility along the spectrum in that studio about the game's development.

When they were making episodes for Half-Life 2 that was probably the best and strongest effort that ever happened toward another Half-Life project.

How close do you think Half-Life 3 or Episode 3 has come to release?

I've heard that some teams have had two to three people working on it, and they eventually ran into a wall, and some teams may have gotten up to 30 or 40 people before it was scrapped.

Does Valve owe it to fans to finish what they started? At least wrap up Half-Life 2?
I don't think there will be any more. But at any given moment, they make decisions as they come. If some people within Valve make something that they collectively feel is exciting, then it will happen. That's going to be hard for that to happen now. Every time a Half-Life project gets some gravity and then collapses, it becomes harder for the next one to start up. Because the business changes so much, and there are so many other things to do, it just gets harder and harder. It's one of those things they'll always have to accept. People are going to harass them for more Half-Life. The idea of delivering a third episode of Half-Life 2, that's dead. There's no universe where that will happen. I think there is a universe where a standalone thing could come together to fill in that hole, but that's tough.

There are some business connections that could help it, like it being released exclusively on Steam OS. That's a big thing. People would be like, ”Well, I now need to get a Steam Machine." There would be value in that. Is it enough? If Valve seriously contemplates that, you'd think they would look at bigger things first, like a Steam-native Counter-Strike or Dota 3. Half-Life is big for us who played it, but the game has never really mattered to console customers. The brand really doesn't have the penetration it deserves.

more at the link

The last quote is a bit weird an not like current Valve. Makes me question the source. First, Valve said soon after announcing Steam Machines they won't approach it like consoles, meaning no exclusives among other things. So this person didn't get the memo or is BSing. Secondly, there won't be a new CS or Dota for a while, if ever. And given how big they are it wouldn't make sense to cut off a huge percent of players for the sequels.

 

[FelipeMGM]

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1331526

 

[ashecitism]

That's about the podcast, this is about the article.

edit: oh, I see it was edited into the OP. Okay.

 

[purseowner]

Rest in peace, Valve as a cutting-edge games studio.

I guess Steam and weighty expectations killed Half-Life.

 

[Ploid 3.0]

The Half-Life is a lie. Give up.

Valve, rent out the license. Go all Marvel and give multiple studios a shot at adding to the world of Half-Life. One finishing a quick episode that is Half Life Episode 3, and another making a Half Life 3. :\ The Walking Dead stories game company could be better than nothing.

 

[Crayon]

I love half life but I can't really relate to people carrying a torch for hl3.

 

[OBias]

Basically, the failure of the episodic experiment killed all momentum behind Half-Life, and now the politics inside Valve makes any attempt to revive it unfavorable.

 

[strafer]

When Half Life 3 is released it will blow everyone away. It will be GOTY.

 

[Minions]

I feel Valve seemed to lose its way (at least as a game company) when it was no longer financially depending on making games.

I don't know how anything ever comes out game wise from Valve. Everyone there can do their own thing or join whatever projects they decide to do. Seems simultaneously a blessing and a curse.

Who knows where they would be if they were not propped up by steam.

 

[Madrugador]

I was such a big fan of Valve single player games. Can't believe Portal 2 was so long ago.

Even with TF2 (which I used to play a lot) I feel Valve has dropped the ball. It's so disappointing.

 

[oneida]

has Andrew Reiner been with GI since the 90's? I swear he was with the mag when i got my Mario Kart 64 issue

 

[Ploid 3.0]

Time to split up valve into different groups like google did with their many projects. Name the parent company Pressure, gaming is Valve, Steam is Steam, and the hardware division including the awesome controller API division is Pipe.

Oh also get some customer service people focused on customer service, name them Whistle or something as long as they exist solely for being customer service and not jury duty for people that works on steam, hardware, business stuff, or DOTA2.

 

[Alienous]

I bet the game would have been completed if Valve knew how to sell hats in it. It's probably not worth their while to fund a game they can't monetize with 'not gambling' microtransactions.

 

[Pai Pai Master]

When Half Life 3 is released it will blow everyone away. It will be GOTY.

More like GOTN because it is never happening.

 

[Blam]

The Half-Life is a lie. Give up.

Valve, rent out the license. Go all Marvel and give multiple studios a shot at adding to the world of Half-Life. One finishing a quick episode that is Half Life Episode 3, and another making a Half Life 3. :\ The Walking Dead stories game company could be better than nothing.

That's precisely what they said they didn't want to do, but I wouldn't mind seeing a HL3 made by naughty dog.

 

[Spirited]

Well at least we're getting an announcement of a (vr)game this year.

That's precisely what they said they didn't want to do, but I wouldn't mind seeing a HL3 made by naughty dog.

Even if they would license out their IPs why would they ever do it to a First party dev of a competing platform? lol

 

[onemanasylum]

The Dream is dead

 

[daveo42]

His source is right tbh, even if his info is never verified. No way after all this time will HL3 actually live up to whatever standards we think it should live up to. Maybe give it another 10 years and then expectations might be low enough that Valve can just push something out or pass it off to Crowbar Collective and have them do it. I actually think at this point that they could do a follow-up game with the right guidance on visual storytelling.

 

[Baleoce]

The dream I'd dead

 

[Ploid 3.0]

That's precisely what they said they didn't want to do, but I wouldn't mind seeing a HL3 made by naughty dog.

You are treading on some mighty thin ice here.

Oh crap, found this in that thread.

Give it to Konami.

hahah

 

[ItsTheNew]

I don't quite get what this guy is trying to say. Was it or was it not developed? What were the prototypes? Why aren't they making it? Why is everyone so tight lipped if they don't work there?

 

[moltonasty]

HL3 still isn't happening, news at 11

 

[Interfectum]

I don't quite get what this guy is trying to say. Was it or was it not developed? What were the prototypes? Why aren't they making it? Why is everyone so tight lipped if they don't work there?

There were many game prototypes at Valve that may or may not be made into a Half-Life game. They might not have specifically sat down and said "We are working on HL3" but "we are working on a fun FPS experiment." If said experiment turned out to be super awesome, they might have tossed the HL3 branding and story on it.

 

[Whompa02]

I don't quite get what this guy is trying to say. Was it or was it not developed? What were the prototypes? Why aren't they making it? Why is everyone so tight lipped if they don't work there?

Sounds like there were prototypes from teams that ranged from 3-4 people to 30-40 people at certain points in time through the years.

Sounds like the story for every game studio ever...the only thing that I find is frustrating is that Valve is the client. They definitely need to pitch ideas to themselves, but at the end of the day the higher ups should know what they want...they should know how to pitch to themselves....

 

[ShowDog]

They're too scared to attempt a HL3. It's a shame because it didn't need to be a genre-redefining game. It just needed to pick up where Episode 2 left off and leave the story at some kind of decent place.

But with the passage of so much time, that opportunity is long gone.

I think it's true that a new Half-Life probably doesn't need to exist in 2017, but then they shouldn't have left the narrative on a cliffhanger back when. It was lazy and irresponsible when they had no intention of following up.

 

[Krakn3Dfx]

Making room for Left 4 Dead 3. I'm fine with that.

 

[smuf]

As nice as the work-on-whatever-you-want attitude is, it obviously isn't suited in getting AAA-development done.

That said, I'm sure we'll get a sequel eventually.

 

[Zia]

Making room for Left 4 Dead 3. I'm fine with that.

Unless they can figure out a way to inject L4D3 with gashapon or gambling systems I doubt that'll ever see the light of day either.

 

[ClivePwned]

Bellevue: gaming's home of blue balls

 

[Calm Killer]

For me, it never had to have some kind of super cool game mechanic that changes the way games are played. It just needs to conclude the story. Give me an ending.

 

[Creaking]

This is why I fell out of love with Valve. These days I'm just sick of them.

 

[BannedEpisode]

Valve gave me the friends and family version of their game package so I get every Valve developed game that comes out ever for free.

Jokes on me though, I got that about a year and a half ago. Haven't utilized it. Valve doesn't make new games anymore.

HL3 is probably never happening.

 

[VariantX]

Kind of sad HL2:E3 never happening. It's weird as hell to me in this industry especially that something thats highly successful simply never gets finished. I just want to finish the story I started years ago when I bought the orange box on X360.

 

[Soulblighter31]

The Half-Life is a lie. Give up.

Valve, rent out the license. Go all Marvel and give multiple studios a shot at adding to the world of Half-Life. One finishing a quick episode that is Half Life Episode 3, and another making a Half Life 3. :\ The Walking Dead stories game company could be better than nothing.

It would never work. Valve, the one that made Half Life and HL2 had a certain touch, a certain feel, a certain design for everything. It might not be things that most perceive, but they're there. Machine Games for example, cause before Doom got released it was thrown around into every topic - "give doom or X franchise to machine games", they dont reach the heel of HL era Valve. They just made a decent enjoyable game. Valve created this mold that Wolf and everything since was made around.

That's precisely what they said they didn't want to do, but I wouldn't mind seeing a HL3 made by naughty dog.

I dont think there is a worse developer than Naughty Dog to make a game like HL. Its like the complete antithesis of a Valve game

 

[Poohblaster]

It must be a sad existence as a company not to have the creative strength or will to finish what you started. Valve has no balls.

 

[MilkBeard]

As nice as the work-on-whatever-you-want attitude is, it obviously isn't suited in getting AAA-development done.

That said, I'm sure we'll get a sequel eventually.

As someone who has trouble with procrastinating, this method does not work for motivating people. There must be proper leadership to get exciting new projects made.

 

[Doug Heffernan]

That's an interesting quote about Steam Machine exclusives... I hope it doesn't get to that point.

 

[Ploid 3.0]

It would never work. Valve, the one that made Half Life and HL2 had a certain touch, a certain feel, a certain design for everything. It might not be things that most perceive, but they're there. Machine Games for example, cause before Doom got released it was thrown around into every topic - "give doom or X franchise to machine games", they dont reach the heel of HL era Valve. They just made a decent enjoyable game. Valve created this mold that Wolf and everything since was made around.

I would be fine with them getting someone in valve to draw up a cartoon like the Portal comics about that scientist. Something to explain how Half-Life episode three would have been. Add to the lore of Aperture Science and the world of Half-Life. I remember after finishing all of Orange Box if Episode 2 would have GladOS in it. Heck I'm sure someone made a fanfic out there, just have Gabe nod in their general direction, using no words, half way glancing at them even, and I will read it and be satisfied.

It must be a sad existence as a company not to have the creative strength or will to finish what you started. Valve has no balls.

It's kind of hard to do when bags of money is getting int the way.

 

[ElFly]

I assume one day we will wake up and some external dev will announce they are making Half Life 3

Valve just doesn't have it in them to make it anymore

 

[SolidSnakex]

has Andrew Reiner been with GI since the 90's? I swear he was with the mag when i got my Mario Kart 64 issue

Yeah, he's mentioned during their Replay show that he's been there since the mid-90's.

I don't quite get what this guy is trying to say. Was it or was it not developed? What were the prototypes? Why aren't they making it? Why is everyone so tight lipped if they don't work there?

For the most part it sounds like while there have been ideas for it, they've never really gone anywhere. And it doesn't sound like they ever will until Gabe says that they need to make Half-Life 3 or Episode 3. It doesn't sound like there's any real leadership as far as people trying to get specific projects into development and completed. Just a bunch of people experimenting to see what if anything sticks.

 

[Zia]

It must be a sad existence as a company not to have the creative strength or will to finish what you started. Valve has no balls.

I don't know, spending all that time building trust between you and your customers only to be completely uncommunicative and unsupportive of the communities built around your shit seems pretty defiantly ballsy.

 

[Nzyme32]

I think a fair amount of this is BS since it contradicts much of what Valve have and are doing. There won't be any "exclusives" for SteamOS specifically, they won't favour doing another Dota3 or CS3 etc when those are following the service model specifically to be built upon. Wouldn't be surprised that the person is question is yanking his chain (unless you want to call sizeable shifts in the form of updates like the recent 7.00 Dota3).

However, I feel confident that HL is simply not a priority as a sequel to ep2. Even the film isn't vastly being pushed vs Portal. Chances are they'll wait for the right tech to come along so they have something to work around, but even that is very distant possibility vs Valve people simply being more interested in other things as the company contorts to follow hardware efforts / VR etc with the changing PC landscape. Frankly, I don't see the point in the hype culture around most things. Let them do what they want and eventually demonstrate something worthy. Until then, no point paying a huge amount of thought on it.

 

[VariantX]

It would never work. Valve, the one that made Half Life and HL2 had a certain touch, a certain feel, a certain design for everything. It might not be things that most perceive, but they're there. Machine Games for example, cause before Doom got released it was thrown around into every topic - "give doom or X franchise to machine games", they dont reach the heel of HL era Valve. They just made a decent enjoyable game. Valve created this mold that Wolf and everything since was made around.






I dont think there is a worse developer than Naughty Dog to make a game like HL. Its like the complete antithesis of a Valve game

Yep. HL is all about not taking away control from the player and forcing them to watch set pieces. The player has complete freedom to simply look the other way even if there's this epic thing going on. You certainly wouldn't be stacking blocks and building crude levers to catapult yourself around with physics puzzles in a ND game. Nor would you go to them for a silent protag.

 

[oneida]

Yeah, he's mentioned during their Replay show that he's been there since the mid-90's.

cool! i remember he claimed to be in goldeneye. maybe he is!

 

[Rygar 8 Bit]

gotta believe they are doing vive half life and portal experiments

 

[ashecitism]

That's an interesting quote about Steam Machine exclusives... I hope it doesn't get to that point.

That quote makes me question the source. Valve said they won't do exclusives and it wouldn't make sense for them to do so.

 

[Barry Burton]

That quote makes me question the source. Valve said they won't do exclusives and it wouldn't make sense for them to do so.

Well, if the environment at Valve was like the source described (i.e. employees being part of their own bubble and not really knowing what everyone else is working on) then it's entirely possible that he just doesn't know and is speculating.

Of course, that assumes his anecdote on the Valve culture isn't BS also.

 

[Chemist]

I think also the issue stems from valve not being a traditional company. The culture is so bizarre compared to a normal company that it is easy to see how they won't commit to anything. I've read many stories on the inner workings of that company and it truly is a marvel anything gets done at all. People come and go and do whatever they want. There is no direction and no structure. The reason no half life 3 is the expectations are so massive and valve isn't a game shipping company any longer.

 

[Crazymoogle]

That quote makes me question the source. Valve said they won't do exclusives and it wouldn't make sense for them to do so.

That's just the throwaway opinion at the end. The reason why you might want to consider this source as valid is that everything he/she describes about working at Valve matches everything we know about their studio and office guide/manifesto. They make it clear that at no point is Gabe going to swoop down and ask you to work on HL3 or something. You have to find your way, and that's what makes a HL sequel so challenging - you would need somebody at the studio (besides Gabe, I guess) that is:

1. Charismatic enough to attract other developers there with the right skillsets
2. Motivated enough to push forward a HL3 project
3. Convincing enough to have everyone believe that this project will ship.
4. Skilled enough in all the right ways to work on the project personally beginning-end.
5. Brave enough to do all of this knowing that if it ends up just being you, you're at the bottom of the stack and possibly out of a job.

They're not like a traditional studio; you don't just get 4 concept artists assigned to make a pitch. Presumably whomever was building the game would need to get it far enough along with a very small number of people, but quickly and to a level of excitement that it draws in a large part of the studio to see it to the finish line. Sort of like showing half of "Portal" functional or something.

I think the source is totally right on it getting more difficult every time, too. Why spend your time/risk your position within the studio if you're not convinced it will finish?

If there was some aspect of traditional development there - Gabe asked for it, jobs were secure, or said person was lucky enough to start out with an intrinsic designer/programmer team - I think it would be a lot more likely to at least get somewhere. As it is I guess it depends a lot on what the hidden political structure is.

 

[Hari Seldon]

Yeah Valve needs to spin off a pure game studio to make AAA Steam OS and Vive games.