Gordon Freeman’s long awaited return to PCs and consoles seems as if it may never arrive, yet a recent handbook revealed by Valve could hold the key in pointing out why that is so.
Half-Life redefined the world of video games when it hit PCs all those years ago. The silence of the protagonist placed in a rich, interesting, constantly evolving environment with a brilliantly unfolding storyline.
The sequel, Half-Life 2, continued the brilliant and unique narrative that the first game introduced and expanded on it at the same time. Episodic content was released with fans and gamers eagerly lapping up everything that Valve had to throw their way.
However, since the release of Half-Life 2: Episode 2, the game has fallen off the radar completely with no news of when the next episode is likely to see the light of day. The reason for this may very well the way that Valve’s management is set up; in essence
there is no management setup as the organizational chart is completely flat.
"Valve is flat. It's our shorthand way of saying that we don't have any management, and nobody "reports to" anybody else.”
The company book continued, “We do have a founder/president, but even he isn't your manager. This company is yours to steer-toward opportunities and away from risks. You have the power to green-light projects. You have the power to ship products.”
That is all well and good but it does explain why there has been Episode 3 while a number of games have been released by the developer.
As for the guidelines that employees are told to base their decisions on, well, even those present enough opportunities for a lack of work on Gordon Freeman’s next adventure.
One of the guidelines reads, “Is Valve not doing something that it should be doing? What's interesting? What's rewarding? What leverages my individual strengths the most?”
The answer to that is simple enough Valve, its Half-Life 2: Episode 3!
The way Valve is set up has worked for them in the past, yet with fans growing increasingly impatient; it may just be time for the developer to pool all their efforts into one more offering of Mr. Freeman.
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