Valve talks about Half-Life 3, says it can't exist 'outside of a game'

While Valve still hasn't confirmed the development of Half-Life 3, rumors have circling Reddit that the script for Half-Life 3 is finished, but it won't be released 'due to fear'.

Well, someone reached out to Valve's Marc Laidlaw, who said: "I can't comment on Valve's internal process, but I can say that it sounds like someone is trolling. Anonymous sources have been posting speculation masquerading as inside knowledge since the Half-Life 1 delay in 1997. If that's any comfort, please rest assured that in my experience at Valve, fear is the last thing that would ever drive a decision about what to work on".

When it came to the question of "If the story is finished, why not release it as a book or a comic", Laidlaw responded with: "There's a misunderstanding that I've always tried to address straight on when this question comes up, which is that a Half-Life story can somehow exist outside of a game. It can't. The story is created through the process of trying to figure out how to best use the features of the engine within the interesting set of constraints it poses".

"The story is a part of the game. It doesn't exist as a separate script that is handed off to game designers which they are expected to somehow make compelling through puzzles and combat", he continued. Laidlaw finished off by saying: "The story develops while trying to solve the problem of how to make a fun game. It's like saying 'Why don't you write a sonnet that's a novel?' The Half-Life story is really only as good as the game that lets you play it".

Last updated: Apr 6, 2020 at 08:33 pm CDT