Is Half-Life 2 episode 3 being held up by Steam itself?

Half Life 3, and specifically HL2 episode 3 have been ‘in the works’ for years. Episode 2 was released almost 4 years ago, and 2 years ago we were given teasers to episode 3. Yet nothing has come. Is it possible that the delay is because Valve has been vesting its interest in Steam itself?

James Brightman, over at Industrygamers.com argues that point. Half-Life 2 was originally released over 6 years ago; November 2004. And since that day the gaming industry (including myself) has been waiting with baited breath for new development in the game series. HL2 itself had a huge development cycle that lasted 7 years since the original Half-Life game was released (1997.)

With Steam being the premium content distribution system in play in the gaming industry (specifically for PC), and even with rumors that some portions of the Steam system will be brought to the Xbox (as a portal through Xbox Live), it isn’t hard to see that the cash cow could also be causing some internal conflicts.

But also, with Portal 2 coming out it seems like movement might finally be progressing within the Valve world. And the truth be told, I would gladly wait 10 years for a perfect sequel to the excellent Half-Life 2. Just gimme something in between. And  I think that Portal 2 will give us some clues as to the direction and progress HL2E3 and HL3 are taking.

(source)

by James Helsby

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