Update: Valve Corp. has yet to comment on Marc Laidlaw’s departure, but according to Polygon, the writer has confirmed that he did in fact retire from the company.

Original Article: Fans have been waiting for Valve Corp.’s Half-Life 3 for so long now that the game, which has yet to even be officially announced, has become a running gag in the online gamer community. It has been over eight years since the release of the last game in the series, Half-Life 2 Episode 2, and, if anything, it is only looking more and more unlikely like we won’t be getting another Half-Life game anytime soon.

The future of Half-Life could be even more uncertain, according to new rumors that writer Marc Laidlaw may have retired from the company. Laidlaw played a key role in the series, as he was the sole writer for both Half-Life and Half-Life 2, and he was the lead writer on both of the follow-up episodes to Half-Life 2.

According to a fan on Reddit, Laidlaw stated in an email that he had retired from Valve.

“Yes, it is true. I, Marc Laidlaw, have retired from Valve,” Laidlaw said in the email. He explained that his friends already knew about his departure from the company, and he saw no reason not to confirm it to fans.

He added, “I am no longer a full- or part-time Valve employee, no longer involved in day-to-day decisions or operations, no longer a spokesman for the company, no longer privy to most types of confidential information, no longer working on Valve games in any capacity.”

Old Man Laidlaw

That sounds pretty authoritative if that response actually came from Laidlaw. He went on to explain that he chose to retire from Valve partly because of his age, saying that his nickname when he started at Valve in the mid-1990s was “Old Man Laidlaw.” Since he is no longer part of Valve, Laidlaw said that he could not comment on the future of Half-Life.

“Half-Life is fully owned by Valve,” he said. “It came into existence before my arrival. Where Valve may choose to take it in the future is not in my hands.”

Since a screenshot of an email on Reddit is obviously sketchy at best, we have reached out to Valve for confirmation that Laidlaw is indeed no longer with the company, and we will update this article once we know for sure. It is worth noting that Laidlaw is still listed on Valve’s list of employees.

Photo by shanewarne_60000