Marc Laidlaw retired from Valve - no longer (not) working on HL3

Article on Gamasutra

Various sources are reporting an email exchange between Marc Laidlaw and a HL fan where he publicly announces his retirement from Valve. I'd just like to say that I think this obviously has nothing to do with the ongoing development (or not) of HL3 - Marc himself carefully dodges that question, rightly so - but that it is a shame to see someone so intimately connected with one of my favourite games leave the industry. Still, 18 years is one hell of a tenure so I think the man is more than due a change of scenery. Bon voyage Marc, I wish you all the best in your new life as a guy people DON'T pester for HL3 info!

Maybe he's already written some massive lore book for the entire Half-Life universe and is alright peacing out.

Like I'm ever going to buy a copy of The Orchid Eater.

I think there was an old GFW Radio episode where Shawn Elliott said this was exactly the case.

Yeah, you could make a "Half-Life 3 unconfirmed" joke, but any story for it was probably finalized years ago, and with the type of games they've been making over the last several years, there doesn't seem to be much for a writer to do beyond some worldbuilding and character quips.

Wouldn't it be nuts if he ended up at Kojima Productions?

I stopped caring about half life years ago

So where does he go, do you think? Like in terms of "self-directed writing projects," is that just a book? A screenplay? I mean, he was probably involved to some degree with the collaborations with JJ Abrams and Guillermo del Toro. Do you think a screenplay makes sense?

@indieslaw: After all that time working on AAA projects for Valve he must have contacts all over the place. His comments do lead me to think that he's looking to focus on more personal work, but what that ends up turning into is anyone's guess at this point. I'll be interesting to see what 'retirement' for Marc Laidlaw actually looks like.

I never cared about half life.

HL3 kickstarter.