The writer behind the hit game series Half-Life which won over fifty PC Game of the Year awards, Marc Laidlaw confirmed his retirement news which brings in the question if Half-Life 3 will be coming out.
Laidlaw was the main guy who was responsible for creating each game’s lore. He single handedly wrote the story for Half-Life 1 and 2 story and also worked on the level design. He was also the lead writer for Half-Life 2 Episode 1 and 2.
“I am no longer a full or part time Valve employee, no longer involved in day-to-day decisions or operations, no longer a spokesperson for the company, no longer privy to most types of confidential information, no longer working on Valve games in any capacity,” he said in an email to a fan.
He joined Valve (Counter Strike) back in 1997 when they were developing Half Life. Being a science fiction and horror genre writer, Laidlaw was intrigued in the gaming world thanks to the puzzle game, Myst. After working with game designers, he decided that he want to design an actual game and that’s how his journey in Valve begun.
After almost 15 years, Laidlaw took the decision to retire and speaking about this decision he says, “An outwardly obvious reason is that I’m old, or anyway oldish. My nickname when I first started at Valve in 1997 was ‘old man Laidlaw’. The little baby level designer who gave me that that nickname is now older than I was then.
I had a good run but lately I have been feeling a need for a break from the collaborative chaos of game production, and a return to more self-directed writing projects.”
Retiring of Laidlaw before the much awaited sequel makes one ponder on the fact whether he has worked on the the plot for Half-Life 3 before leaving Valve. When asked about it, he didn’t disclose anything, “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. I have been a grateful co-creator but my time of working on the series is behind me. Since I no longer speak for Valve, it would be inappropriate for me to answer questions or speculate openly on the fate of the franchise.”
What’s in store in regards to the third installment remains a closely guarded secret at the company. Whatever it is, fans would be awaiting for his next novel; who knows it might be his autobiography or about his journey at Valve or maybe just Half Life 3.