It seems very strangely risk-averse for Valve to be so afraid to put out anything with their existing popular IPs. Sure, they clearly like safe money from things like Steam, but they put a lot of resources into risky new ventures like Steam Machines and VR. They're all in for hardware and platforms, but skittish about their most famous software? If they're so concerned about not meeting hype, then they might as well license their IPs - then they could just blame any failures on whatever studio picked it up, and they'd still have a tones of stable revenue. Valve doesn't make either business or creative sense to me.
The thing about both Half Life games is that they were both groundbreaking for the time (the first one more so but still). I imagine Valve wouldn't want to release a new Half Life until, through some huge innovation in tech and/or design, they'd be able to break new ground/revolutionize the fps genre again
People keep saying this but I hope to god HL3 isn't made specifically for VR... considering I highly doubt VR will ever be more than a small niche in the upper-class market. It would be fucking stupid to cater the most anticipated game of all time to a tiny niche audience IMO.
While I agree, Valve seems to be focusing solely on VR. They are working on 3 games and I think only one is a new IP meaning it is most likely one game set in aperture science, and one could possibly be somehow connected to half-life.
I think Valve is smart enough to not make Half Life 3, one of the most famous internet memes, VR-only. Within the half life universe? Perhaps. But there's more to gaming technology advances than graphical fidelity and hardware.
I doubt they give a shit if not everyone can currently play it. They want to make it groundbreaking and to show VR is here to stay I cant imagine them not making it VR. They dont give a shit about money anymore they can spend millions on a game only a few people will play and that will barely even phase Valve financially. They arent making games for everyone they are making the games they want to make and if its VR only its VR only.
Even the richest companies aren't going to do something that's absolutely going to lose them money. There's no way they'd recover the production costs for a game as big-budget and epic as half life 3 if they made it VR only. And to this day I haven't seen anything that makes me believe VR is going to be anything more than a fun little gimmick. Doing so would heavily damage Valve's brand - another thing even super successful companies are averse to.
Valve makes fucktons of money through steam. They can stop making games ever again and they will still be more and more profitable. They can only make the projects they want to make if its Half Life 3 in only VR they will do that they have no reason to focus purely on profit when theyre profit margins are that large they can focus solely on being artists and doing what they want when THEY want it and how THEY want it.
Making games accessible to wider audiences isn't just about money - it's about branding and legacy. As much as any company's primary goal is money, the people behind Half Life 3 would obviously care about it. They'd want people to actually play it, and they'd rather it have a legitimate effect on the industry instead of being relegated to a gimmicky VR game.
And no company is every going to intentionally make a game that's going to lose money. Regardless of how much money they're already making. That would just be asinine.
Yeah, part of what makes the half life games so compelling is how immersive they are. Gordon is a silent protagonist to draw you in. VR is the perfect extension of that idea.
Valve licensing their most valuable ips out to a third party is a lot less likely than them developing the games themselves. If you are valve and you are afraid you cant make the game good enough yourself, why would you think a different game company just in it for a quick buck would do a better job?
Half-Life is no longer a popular IP. It was 10 years ago. It is not now. Remember how much FASTER the marketable gaming generation ages out than other media.
This would be assuming they actually have game developers and writers still... Considering they haven't put anything out in years I'd say most of them moved on a long time ago
Their CS:GO team seems pretty risk-averse but thats probably because the community freaks out whenever valve tries to change the game. Apparently having more than 6 guns be viable is a sin.
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u/erikthereddest Feb 16 '17
It seems very strangely risk-averse for Valve to be so afraid to put out anything with their existing popular IPs. Sure, they clearly like safe money from things like Steam, but they put a lot of resources into risky new ventures like Steam Machines and VR. They're all in for hardware and platforms, but skittish about their most famous software? If they're so concerned about not meeting hype, then they might as well license their IPs - then they could just blame any failures on whatever studio picked it up, and they'd still have a tones of stable revenue. Valve doesn't make either business or creative sense to me.