The problem for fans is that Half-Life occupies a special place in their hearts – not just as the game that put Valve on the map (the original was a huge hit when it was released in 1998), but as an important milestone in the overall development of games. “We want to make sure that those games and those stories and those characters are moving forward while also making sure we don’t just get into terminal sequelitis.” He then explained that the company felt obligated to focus on currently popular games like Portal (set, incidentally, in the same universe as Half-Life), Counterstrike, and Left 4 Dead. “We’re acutely aware of how much we annoy our fans, ” he told a Penny Arcade reporter. That clever move did at least garner some acknowledgement of their plight from Newell. “Your oldest and longest-running fanbase would like better communication.” They organized thousands of people to simultaneously play Half-Life 2 on Steam – Valve’s online service and digital store – bumping its visibility, in a sort of virtual flash-mob protest. In 2012, fans attempted to politely petition the company for transparency: “ have waited years for a word on when the franchise will return,” they wrote in a “Call for Communication” that started what became a 51,000-member strong group, and garnered 4500 comments. One video published in June, “A Comprehensive History of Half-Life 3” – essentially, a history of nothing – gained 134,000 views in two weeks. On YouTube, videos like those produced by Valve News Network – with 171,000 subscribers – delve into the scantest of details that could possibly hint at a new game. Though Half-Life 3 has become a Great Pumpkin-style running joke for some gamers, other members of online Valve communities remain obsessed with the distant possibility of the game’s return. “Don’t know what to think about this anymore, honestly,” the poster commented.īut some fans simply won’t give up.
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“I have been a grateful co-creator, but my time working on the series is behind me,” Laidlaw wrote in an email to a fan, who posted it on Reddit. Laidlaw was the sole writer for Half-Life and Half-Life 2, and worked on prospective subsequent episodes, so the community was shaken. More fans are coming around to the idea Half-Life has simply been abandoned, a theory supported by recent news that the franchise’s main writer, Marc Laidlaw, has resigned from Valve. Before that, tantalizingly, a trademark was filed for Half-Life 3, and some concept art popped up. The last time Gabe Newell, Valve’s CEO, mentioned the title was in March of 2015, and that was only in passing, while listing reasons for his studio’s newfound commitment to multiplayer gaming – the polar opposite of the tightly plotted, single-player Half-Life series. But that’s just the beginning of fans’ intense connection to the game – which, paradoxically, is only further fueled by Valve’s stubborn silence on the subject. So why has one of gaming’s most passionate fanbases assembled around a famously nonexistent product? The sheer popularity of Half-Life 2 – over 12 million copies sold, including a Playstation 2 version – doesn’t hurt.
They may be waiting for a game that will never come – and many of them know it.
An entire subreddit is dedicated to the franchise, with 27,000 subscribers tracking every hint of a rumor. That social-media kerfuffle is only the latest sign of just how badly gamers want the next Half-Life game. “I have zero information about hl3 other than to confirm that it’s coming out tomorrow. Desperate fans seized on Notch’s tweet: Did he have some inside information? Was Half-Life 3 finally on its way? He soon had to respond:
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