Leading Half Life Writer Leaves Valve

A major creative force behind the celebrated Half Life series has left the series’ creator, Valve.

Marc Laidlaw, the sole writer of Half Life 1 and 2, has left Valve after an 18 year stint with the PC game giants. An expansion of the writing team gave Laidlaw the position of lead writer for the two episodic Half Life games that preceded the sequel.

As reported by Develop Online, Laidlaw publicly revealed his retirement from Valve in response to a fan’s email. The fan wanted to enquire about the status of the elusive Half Life 3, to which Laidlaw replied that he was no longer involved in any of Valve’s projects.

He said that the primary reason for his retirement from Valve was his age. Having joined Valve in 1997, Laidlaw was referred to as ‘old man Laidlaw’. Due to his age, he said that he needs a break from the chaos of collaborative game production. He has decided to return to ‘self-directed writing projects’.

Looking back fondly on his career with Valve, Laidlaw said that he had a good run with the company. With Metacritic scores of 96 for both the original and its sequel, Laidlaw has been a dominant force behind one of the PC gaming world’s most celebrated series.

Laidlaw said that he is happy to leave the future of the Half Life series in the capable hands of Valve. He said that he is grateful for having co-created the series, and is now looking to the future and moving on from the series.

Half Life 3 has been hotly awaited by its many legions of fans since the last title’s release in 2007. Valve has infamously been silent on any news of the game.

Related Topics: Half-Life, Marc Laidlaw, Valve

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