If you haven't given up on Half-Life 3 yet, we've received another unfortunate sign that may serve to shake your faith in the sequel. Erik Wolpaw, a writer for the Portal and Half-Life series, has left Valve after being with the company since 2004. Wolpaw also has a credit for Left 4 Dead to his name, so many PC gamers are at least familiar with his work even if the name itself doesn't ring a bell.
The news comes by way of both Facebook and Twitter, where Marc Laidlaw and Wolpaw himself confirmed the news. Laidlaw, who retired from Valve last year, tweeted that he could insult Wolpaw without damaging the company's reputation now that he no longer worked for Valve. Wolpaw's Facebook page also confirmed his departure through a status update. He's currently working alongside Tim Schafer for Psychonauts 2, which was successfully crowdfunded to start 2016.
We don't know if Wolpaw will make a return to Double Fine or if he's just on board for Psychonauts 2, but his departure from Valve is definitely real. An earlier report from PC Gamer erroneously reported that Jay Pinkerton had also left Valve, but Wolpaw debunked that and asked that fans stop sending Pinkerton concerned e-mails. Whatever's next for Erik Wolpaw, we wish him the best and can't wait to see what he comes up with next.
@Wolpaw left Valve so I can now insult him freely without damaging the company's reputation. He's a comic genius and a true original.
— Marc Laidlaw (@marc_laidlaw) February 17, 2017
