Half-Life Scribe Marc Laidlaw Leaves Valve After Almost Two Decades

Half-Life scribe Marc Laidlaw has exited Valve after 18 years with the company.

Word comes by way of a Reddit email exchange (confirmed by GameSpot), where Laidlaw noted that his retirement from the revered Washington studio wasn’t a secret between family and friends, but it’s only now that the information has become more publicly known.

Described as the “sole write” on both Half-Life and its acclaimed sequel – not to mention working as Lead Writer across the Half-Life Episodes that release shortly thereafter – Laidlaw was influential in creating the sci-fi series. However, now his time working on the dormant franchise is firmly behind him.

Here’s an extract from his statement:

“Yes, it is true. I, Marc Laidlaw have retired from Valve,” he told reddit user TeddyWolf in one email exchange. “I am no longer a full or part-time Valve employee, no longer involved in day-to-day decisions or operations, no longer a spokesperson for the company, no longer privy to most types of confidential information, no longer working on Valve games in any capacity. I had a good run but lately I have been feeling a need for a break from the collaborative chaos of game production, and a return to more self-directed writing projects.”

Marc Laidlaw’s time with Valve stretches all the way back to 1997, though his retirement poses some pertinent questions regarding fabled sequel Half-Life 3. While he didn’t address the yet-to-be-confirmed title explicitly, Laidlaw capped off his statement by noting that “where Valve choose to take Half-Life in the future is not in my hands.”