Unless you’ve been trapped in Xen, then I’m sure you heard the news that Disney has bought the Star Wars franchise from George Lucas.
Some like the idea and others hate it. Perhaps Mr. Lucas added some caveats about IP cross over or some other points related to keeping the SW universe pure etc. I’m not a huge fan of Star Wars but it would be cool to have some new movies to watch.
That of course then got me thinking about Valve selling the Half-Life franchise.
Sure, the chances are very, very slim but it might happen. What if Valve decided that after releasing HL3, they have had enough with it? Why not sell it on and do what they have been doing for a while?
It’s not as crazy as it sounds, but admittedly unlikely.
Perhaps it’s more likely if they allow other developers to create some expansions/DLC/side games while they concentrate on their newer IPs.
They’ve done it once (well twice really) and as long as the new content doesn’t break canon, then why not.
I’d jump at the chance to make the Seven Hour War game. There are so many possibilities, to tell interesting stories. Sure, we know lost but how is that any different from when we play other games? Unless we stop playing, we know good triumphs over evil and the player is a hero.
I take the same stand as I do with the Disney/Star Wars deal: If I get new content that doesn’t completely ruin the IP then I’ll give it a chance.
What about you?
More like, “How would you feel if Valve sold the Half-Life franchise to EA?
Ban this man, my laptop is now ruined due to the amount of sick that just hit it.
I would have no problem. Valve only cares about milking Steam and mods for cheap money right now in my opinion! Maybe another developer would actually make a good and long HL game if they had the rights to do so. I haven’t played any of the latest Halo games, but it seems as if such a thing happened there with Halo 4!
If they do like Microsoft ruined Halo, I preffer never, i’m glad with the tons of mods available…
If it’s after releasing HL3, I don’t mind.
Recently EA tried to buy off Valve.
Now I want to officialy declare a war on EA, because this shit went too far !
And the only estimated price was about 2 000 000 $.
WHO THE *happy cactus* WOULD SELL A 5 000 000 INCOME FOR JUST 2 ?!
I would be worried yeah but from another point of view it would be a good thing.
By this point, Valve must be running a little dry on Ideas to put in a Half Life game. We have all seen mappers out there who does a way better job than Valve themselves.
Think Fallout. Fallout 3 was amazing. Then New Vegas came. They didn’t destroy the series, but they didn’t move it forward either.
Would I want Valve to sell the Franchise? No. Not before they have ended the Gordon Freeman story properly, then I would not mind if another company began another story in the same universe.
After deep contemplation I honestly don’t think I would mind. It would entirely depend on WHO they sell Half-Life to. I also believe that people like Marc Laidlaw would go with whoever bought the franchise. So to answer the question: “I’d be a little worried”.
I think Valve has different priorities now — Steam being one of them and competitive gaming being another. Half-Life doesn’t fit well with either of those priorities.
This is not a question on whether Valve would be selling “Valve”, it’s a question on whether Valve would sell Half-Life. I personally don’t think this would be such a bad thing.
Good question!
I voted “I don’t want that to happen” but only because alot of other developers would “modernise” the series and release yearly rehashes like a certain other franchise. It also sounds like this will be happening to Star Wars since Disney say they want a new movie every 2 or so years.
On the other hand if another developer could reach Valve’s quality, whilst still moving forwards and respecting what came before, then it wouldn’t be so bad. As long as we still get mod tools ;).
I say let Valve do all official work, for they are the only ones I trust to make good original Half Life content, and let the modders do the rest. Just look at the achievement of Black Mesa; with time and the excellent source engine, we as a community can produce any story related to the Half Life franchise we want, for free to everyone.
Definitely don’t want it to happen, ever. Let Valve do the official work, and let us do the rest.