Valve, you suck! Sorry, but I had to get it off my chest before I exploded. I’ve been waiting for Half-Life 2: Episode 3 for what now…? Ten years already? Wow, time goes by so fast.
Anyway, it’s unfair to say that one of the most renowned videogame developers ever just plain suck. They gave us so many classic games and even the most exciting software distribution platform of our age. Things wouldn’t be the same without Steam, and we wouldn’t have so many cherished memories without Portal 2, Team Fortress 2, Counter-Strike or Left 4 Dead.
And yet, despite being one of the wealthiest studios that exist, Valve managed to disappoint millions of players with a truly cheap move. Releasing two out of three episodes was just unfair, it deceived players in a way that only those small indie studios should be “allowed” to do – as in “sorry guys, the sales were bad, we can’t develop any more episodes and we’re closing our doors.”
But not Valve. Valve has tons of resources, and I can’t even imagine just how many employees working on their current and future games. Not releasing the final chapter of a game was such a low blow, and especially considering that it wasn’t a full sequel, only a short episode that would hopefully tie all the loose ends and give players a somewhat satisfactory ending.
Some closure.
Instead, no Half-Life 2: Episode 3 or even any kind of solid info on Half-Life 3. That felt cheap. Of all the studios that are used to treat their players right and only release games when they’re done, because they’re striving for the utmost quality possible, Valve was one that I wasn’t expecting to pull such a stunt. Or Blizzard. Or CD Projekt.
To make a somewhat idiotic comparison to a more recent game, can you imagine this scenario: Dontnod releases four episodes of Life is Strange, and suddenly… “sorry guys, stuff happened, we’ll develop new games on a more profitable genre. Thank you for all the cash and screw you”. That would have been fun, right?
But Dontnod isn’t Valve. At all.
I can’t even guess what kind of internal attrition went over at Valve’s headquarters during the development of Episode 3. But I’m pretty sure that the decision to call it off wasn’t an easy one to make. However, us, players, deserve some sort of clear communication on this matter. Even if they finally announce Half-Life 3 in a year or two, it feels like something was missing from the franchise. And will it continue Gordon Freeman and Alyx’s adventures, knowing that many players nowadays aren’t really huge connoisseurs of the Half-Life 2 canon, or will it be an entire new story?
No matter what happens, we, the players, need some sort of closure. And Valve surely doesn’t seem to be much bothered with that.
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