Published , by TJ Denzer
Published , by TJ Denzer
It’s always a little unnerving when the original voice of a franchise is no longer there. Marc Laidlaw was instrumental in the story and narratives of the original Half-Life games, but left Valve in 2016, meaning a few new writers have been on the series. There might not be any need to worry about Half-Life: Alyx breaking away from Laidlaw’s vision too much though. According to Valve, Marc Laidlaw was consulted heavily on the development of Half-Life: Alyx’s story.
Valve revealed Marc Laidlaw’s role in Half-Life: Alyx’s development during a Q&A on Reddit on January 22, 2020. When Laidlaw left Valve after 18 years, many wondered if there might be bad blood between Laidlaw and his former company. It was a rumor stirred by the fact that in 2017, just a year after, Laidlaw dropped a “fanfic” for the script of Half-Life 2 Episode 3. That said, According to Valve, these rumors have not only been untrue, but Laidlaw has been a hefty part of designing Half-Life: Alyx’s narrative.
Though Half-Life: Alyx’s plot wasn’t written directly by Laidlaw, the team behind the game consulted him for narrative advice throughout the development process - a request to which Laidlaw enthusiastically complied.
“He's been super generous with his time throughout the development of HL:A, Answering many questions from Erik [Wolpaw], Jay [Pinkerton], and Sean [Vanaman] as they hammered away on the story,” Valve wrote. “As is always the case with Marc, we send him an email, and he sends us a response, and then roughly 40 more replies to his own email.”
That is to say, the team behind Half-Life: Alyx seems to fully understand and respect Marc Laidlaw’s place in the creation of Half-Life canon. Though Half-Life: Alyx is undoubtedly a new frontier with the writer’s behind it, it would seem that Laidlaw’s influence will still figure heavily into the final narrative product.
Valve is confident in launching Half-Life: Alyx in March 2020 on Steam and Microsoft Windows via all applicable VR platforms. Stay tuned to Shacknews for further news and information as we approach the game’s release.