Half-Life Writer Retires From Valve
According to a report by Polygon, it looks like longtime Half-Life video game writer, Marc Laidlaw, has retired from game production and Valve Software. In terms of the popular Half-Life franchise, Laidlaw wrote the story for Half-Life, Half-Life 2 and all its expansions. The revelation after an e-mail from Laidlaw on his departure from Valve was authenticated and posted onto the Half-Life Reddit.
Speaking on his retirement, Laidlaw stated, “There are many reasons, most of them personal. An outwardly obvious reason is that I’m old, or anyway oldish.” Unfortunately, he doesn’t grant any hope for fans of the franchise, who have been in suspense on the status of the franchise since Half-Life 2: Episode Two, which was meant to part of a trilogy of episodes.
Regarding the franchise’s future, Laidlaw reinforced that the ball is currently in Valve’s court because they are the sole owners of the game series. On the future of Half-Life, he said: “I don’t and can’t entirely know. Half-Life is fully owned by Valve. It came into existence before my arrival. Where Valve may choose to take it in the future is not in my hands.”
Laidlaw began working at Valve and the first Half-Life in 1998. However, now it looks like he wants to focus on more “self-directed writing projects.” He added, “I will almost certainly get back to writing more stories of my own; that ‘s simply my default setting.” To be clear, Laidlaw is far from bitter, and he is very positive on his time with Valve, saying: “Valve has been my second home, and home to a great many of my dreams and ambitions, for over 18 years. I will always have a connection to the company, the many friends I made there, the games I worked on, and especially the characters I helped create.”
Unfortunately, this will not be welcome news for dedicated fans of the Half-Life franchise who have been waiting for years for some sort of continuation or formal conclusion to the series. Granted, Valve could always move on with Half-Life with two writers. It’s not unusual for popular game franchises to continue their storylines without the original scenario writers or developers. However, Valve has not officially revealed any plans for a Half-Life 2: Episode Three or Half-Life 3. That looks like it will be the status quo for quite some time.