Every game studio eventually develops a reputation. Nintendo makes family friendly products, From Software likes making daunting challenges, andValvecan’t count to three.Valveis certainly a remarkable company that’s achieved a lot over the last twenty-five years, as PC gaming wouldn’t be the same without the eternally popular Steam to deliver games to fans, but Valve has developed a lot of games of note too. With everything fromTeam FortresstoLeft 4 DeadtoPortalto its name, Valve defined a lot of player’s experiences in the early 2000s. Unfortunately, these games didn’t always get as many sequels as players wanted.
Steam is still going strong, but Valve’s game development has largely petered out in the last few years. The card gameArtifactpopped up in 2018, but it failed to gain traction, and Valve is still deciding its future.Valve has said recentlythat it has several games in development now, so the relative drought is finally over. The question is if Valve wants to redefine itself by starting several new IPs or if it’s going to return to its roots. It might decide to go back and relive the glory days, and if it does, Valve has a whole lot to gain from potential still lying in wait.
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Long-Awaited Sequels
The clearest reason that Valve should lean on their existing IPs is that there’s a market for them. Fans have been begging Valve to makeHalf-Life 3for years, and they’d probably still be interested if Valve returned to them now. Some of Valve’s sequel options are being played to this day—it’s been out for well over ten years andTeam Fortress 2still has a lively player base.Counter-Strike: Global Offensiveis also going strong and has one of the most active competitive scenes of all FPS games, and the recent emergence ofBack 4 Bloodindicates there’s still interest in the kinds of games that Valve pioneered for so many years.
Valve already has its fingers in a lot of valuable pies. If it comes out with a new IP now, it’d certainly get some attentionjust from Valve’s pedigree. However, it would still need to prove itself. In fact, the popularity of Valve’s old IPs might actively work against a new one. Fans looking forward to the game’s Valve is working on are likely to hope that they are the sequels and threequels that they’ve been waiting for. If they’re not, then a large part of the customer base might be disappointed and lose interest in the new IP. Valve is gambling if it starts a new franchise now.
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Valve’s Potential
Valve certainly still knows how to make a game. One of 2020’s biggest hits wasHalf-Life: Alyx,a VR FPS and Valve’s first timeback in theHalf-Lifeuniversesince 2007. Critics and fans lovedHalf-Life: Alyxso much that it won Best VR Game at The Game Awards 2020 over strong contenders likePhasmophobia.However,Alyx’s quality isn’t just what makes it remarkable. Valve’s decision to go back toHalf-Lifeafter so long makes it seems like Valve is gauging player interest in its old properties. It also shows that Valve’s old properties will benefit from next-gen technology, while games likePortalandHalf-Lifedeserve to be brought into the modern age.
For Valve fans, the return toHalf-Lifedefinitely a good thing.The positive response toHalf-Life: Alyxmight be just what pushes Valve to return to old IPs instead of trying to start from scratch. Frankly, the hardest part of developing a sequel all this time is deciding where to start. If Valve clues in fans on the fact that it’s developing new sequels, heated debates are bound to rage about whether it should makePortal 3orHalf-Life 3first. Whatever Valve settles on, it’ll have a much easier time selling fans on the game than it would with something new. There’s lots of Valve content that fans want to see more of, and they’d like to see it soon.
