For nearly 10 years, a highly-anticipated finale to the "Half-Life" video game franchise has eluded fans. Mere mention of the words "Half-Life 3" has become farce.
It appears as though the game's writer just leaked the conclusion fans have been waiting on all this time.
Valve
Long-time Valve Software writer Marc Laidlaw tweeted out a link on Thursday night to a story that sounds an awful lot like what could've been "Half-Life 2: Episode 3" (aka "Half-Life 3").
Laidlaw left Valve in the last few years, having served as a writer through the entirety of the main "Half-Life" series. Though the story he lays out uses pseudonyms for various characters and alien races, it's pretty clear that Laidlaw's laying out his vision for the conclusion to the series.
Thankfully, $4 (of course they have).
In $4, Laidlaw refers to the story he posted as "fanfic," and "a genderswapped snapshot of a dream I had many years ago." In so many words, though this shouldn't be considered the definitive conclusion, it's a close approximation of what was once the plan.
In an answer to a fan, Laidlaw even refuses to go into more detail about a specific couple of characters, saying "that is something Valve might still want to develop, flesh out and explain someday."
It's not clear what happened to the development of "Half-Life 2: Episode 3"/"Half-Life 3," only that it eventually faded to the point of non-existence. What is clear is that Valve has set its sights elsewhere.
Valve
"Half-Life" creator Valve has largely moved on from the type of narrative-based, single-player game that "Half-Life" was. The outrageously successful Steam storefront is Valve's primary concern, though the company still makes plenty of games: "DOTA 2," "Team Fortress 2," and several others.
None of those games, though, are the promised finale to the "Half-Life" series. It's been nearly 10 years since the last installment in the series, "Half-Life 2: Episode 2," arrived. A promised third episode never came, and Valve eventually stopped answering questions about the franchise.
Fans of the series, as you might imagine, are very excited about finally getting some closure.
A representative for Valve didn't immediately response to request for comment.
Thank you, $4. This feels right after 10 years. Finally, closure. Thanks again. $4
- Gabriel Vendríes (@gvendries) $4