It’s a long-running goof in the gaming world that Valve never works in threes. Their work has long been a collection of games and sequels. No Half-Life 3, no Team Fortress 3, and no Portal 3.
While Half-Life does technically have more episodes and Half-Life: Alyx, Portal has very much been given a host of spin-offs to appease the masses. However, according to an exclusive interview between DidYouKnowGaming and Portal writer Erik Wolpaw, the possibility of a Portal 3 is not entirely out the window.
Shane Gill’s most recent DidYouKnowGaming video includes interviews with Wolpaw as well as ex-Valve employee Josh Weier, and covers a whole range of behind-the-scenes tidbits about the creation of Portal and Portal 2. Toward the end of the video, Gill starts asking the questions that many Portal fans have wanted answers to for years now: Why aren’t there any third Valve games? Is Portal 3 ever going to be a thing? Do you even CARE?
Wolpaw explained his theory behind a lack of third games in Valve’s multiple franchises. According to Wolpaw, it isn’t a conscious decision by Valve to not make them but rather a feeling that everything they wanted to fix from the first game was already done in the second game, so there’s less of a desire.
When it comes to the Portal 3 question, surprisingly enough, the folks over at Valve actually really do want to make a Portal 3. Wolpaw says, “Yeah, Jay [Pinkerton] and I have an idea that we think is pretty awesome for what would happen [in Portal 3], generally speaking. We don’t have a script or any details worked out, but we have sort of a starting point that we like a ton.”
Gill then explains that Wolpaw had brought it up in the Valve offices and gotten “a positive response to their idea”. According to Wolpaw, the main thing stopping Portal 3 from starting production is simply timing. Wolpaw states that work on Portal 3 would have to start when nothing else was being worked on at the studio, as they wouldn’t want to drag people who are interested away from other projects that they should be finishing up.
It’s not a lost cause, folks! It could very well happen in our lifetime! Well, in Valve’s lifetime. Hopefully.
There’s also a whole bunch of other cool info about the creation of Portal as a series in the video, so I highly recommend checking out the full thing if you’ve got a spare 15 minutes in your day.
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