Why was Episode 3 cancelled?

[inpurpleshadows]

Half Life 2 is one of, if not the best game I've ever played; it has great combat, realistic physics, an engaging story, likable characters and some of the most beautiful visuals to ever grace the FPS genre. Since I loved HL2 so much I decided to play its episodes as well as Lost Coast. I thought Lost Coast did a very good job showcasing the technology of HDR and to this day still looks gorgeous and the commentary mode was also a neat feature. These additions were later added to HL2's episodes which was a really smart move from Valve. As for the episodes themselves; they are really good. Despite its few shortcomings like the incredibly short 2-3 hour length and lack of new gameplay features and environments, Episode 1 is still pretty fun in its own right and does a great job developing Alyx as both a character and useful ally. I eventually played Episode 2 which blew Episode 1 out of the water with improved gameplay, new enemies and characters, more open-ended level design, even better graphics and a pretty emotional story. While Episode 1 is still great, Episode 2 on the other hand is way better and I would go as far to put it on the same tier as HL2.

Half Life 2 and its episodes are amazing... and that's the problem. I was legitimately confused when Episode 2 ended on a massive cliffhanger with no game to follow it up 16 years later. I did some research and I eventually found out that Episode 3 was cancelled. Despite all of the leaks and the writer of the Half Life series publishing a non-canon story that would've wrapped up the HL2 saga, I still don't know why Episode 3 was cancelled. It's a shame, because Episode 3 has some pretty interesting ideas and even if it was the last game in the entire series, it would've still been a pretty great way to end the Half Life franchise with a bang. Though, other than some leaked concept art I can't find any information on Episode 3 or why it was cancelled, not even the Wikipedia page knows about why it was cancelled. All I'm asking is if any Half Life fans or forum lurkers know how or why the final HL2 episode was cancelled because I'm too lazy to spend hours browsing the web.

[Raterix]

I just can't believe Gman dumped Gordon for Alyx.

[edgeisbad]

because valve spent too much time trying to do something different which led to them doing nothing

[inpurpleshadows]

Originally posted by edgeisbad:

because valve spent too much time trying to do something different which led to them doing nothing

What do you mean by Valve doing something "different"?

[Rubenjackson]

Originally posted by inpurpleshadows:

Originally posted by edgeisbad:

because valve spent too much time trying to do something different which led to them doing nothing

What do you mean by Valve doing something "different"?

They made other games, moving away from Half-Life 2.

[edgeisbad]

Originally posted by Rubenjackson:

Originally posted by inpurpleshadows:

What do you mean by Valve doing something "different"?

They made other games, moving away from Half-Life 2.

not just that, they also all had different ideas of what HL3 should be, so they ended up achieving nothing. This video explains a lot too https://youtu.be/nsbHytJFzEE

[calembredaine]

classic theory before hl:a was fear of disappointment. probably true even now.

some making-of about hl:a also spoke of the "wilderness": an era where devs were so scattered on their own little projects, that no new game really shaped up at valve for years.

[borabedel]

3 is valves unlucky number
there is no 3 in valve
there will be no half life 3 or portal 3

[Cat]

The Half-Life writer left Valve and Gabe said anyone who is interested in making HL3 is welcomed to take over the project but nobody wanted to risk handling this masterpiece franchise; or at least that is what they want us to think.

[inpurpleshadows]

Originally posted by calembredaine:

classic theory before hl:a was fear of disappointment. probably true even now.

some making-of about hl:a also spoke of the "wilderness": an era where devs were so scattered on their own little projects, that no new game really shaped up at valve for years.

I think that more people were disappointed by the fact that there was no Half Life game at all.

[calembredaine]

you can only tell once "hl3" is actually released
or it was hl:a all along, post-credit scene be damned

[geordiebroon58]

do expect my post to be a bit flawed as im going off by memory

Killing Eli was one of their biggest mistakes they made and it caused problems with the writing direction cause up untill that point the drive behind everything was "meet up with ELI" "Save ELI from the prison" "get out city 17 and reach white Forrest to meet up with eli with the combine portal code"

with so meany diffrent ideas falling off deciding to make another episode or make a sequel etc at one point they almost had a hl3 but it ended up so horrendus that it got scrapped all together

HL ALYX works as a fixing point behind that

top it off in the background during HL3 Development they were focused with other things like Source 2 VR Dota 2 CS:GO (updating game to keep mainstream etc) even the steam deck

HL3 fell off their priorities and the complications behind the game just made the game go nowhere

[Cat]

Originally posted by geordiebroon58:

Killing Eli was one of their biggest mistakes they made and it caused problems with the writing direction cause up untill that point the drive behind everything was "meet up with ELI" "Save ELI from the prison" "get out city 17 and reach white Forrest to meet up with eli with the combine portal code"

The writer himself got a story draft after Episode Two, seems like he had a full plot draft so killing off Eli is part of his plan.

[bean man]

♥♥♥♥ I think I got a spoiler

[♂Břęıñ・么PIИ♂]

Originally posted by borabedel:

3 is valves unlucky number
there is no 3 in valve
there will be no half life 3 or portal 3

Or L4D3

[Turambar]

Because Gabe want make HL 3 playable only through his new company. If it requires surgery I will be out... except if it was really cheap what will not be possible.