The first Portal game was released in October 2007, with a sequel coming four years later in April. Both titles were co-written by Erik Wolpaw, who also wrote for games like Psychonauts and the Half-Life series. Now, Wolpaw wants to get the ball moving on Portal 3 while he can still give himself to it.
The first Portal game was released in October 2007, with a sequel coming four years later in April. Both titles were co-written by Erik Wolpaw, who also wrote for games like Psychonauts and the Half-Life series. Now, Wolpaw wants to get the ball moving on Portal 3 while he can still give himself to it.
Wolpaw discussed the prospect of Portal 3 on the Kiwi Talkz Podcast. One quote summarized his pitch: “We’ve gotta start Portal 3, that’s my message to… to whoever.” So the creator is putting his feelers out, letting the wider gaming community know that he is ready to begin work on another Portal game.
Wolpaw isn’t getting any younger
Elaborating on the previous statement, Wolpaw added that he wasn’t getting any younger as the days went by. “We are reaching a point where it’s crazy to think [that we’re] literally going to be too old to work on Portal 3…” So it’s better to go ahead and do it to get it out of the way before they cannot work on the game.
Asked about whether he has envisioned another Portal game, Wolpaw was quick to answer, “I’d work on another Portal in a second, but I can’t make it happen by myself.” However, Wolpaw isn’t exactly new to the industry, and the host points out that he must have some leverage with the developer of the last two Portal games and Steam giant, Valve.
“I could advocate for it… but the problem is [Valve has] 300 employees, and I don’t know exactly the breakdown.” He then says he is unsure of who would be on the legal, commercial, or developmental portions of the team, which makes it harder to know who to contact.
Valve is busy most of the time
Wolpaw also adds that while Valve may seem relaxed sometimes, everyone is working all the time. It’s harder to connect to a developer when they’re already working on a dozen other projects scheduled over the next few years.
“They’re working all the time, it’s just you don’t always see… it doesn’t always end up coming out or it comes out years later.” Everyone at Valve is constantly working, so it’s not as easy as asking the developer to take on a new project at any given time. However, that doesn’t mean it’s hopeless, as Wolpaw describes what needs to happen.
“It’s like a revolution… stir up a bunch of people to leave what they’re currently working on and come work on something else, in this case it would be Portal 3.”
Nintendo announced earlier this year that it would be bringing Portal and Portal 2 to the Nintendo Switch, showing that the IP still holds a lot of potential. If Valve were to make a Portal 3, it would be welcome among the large fanbase that the Portal series has earned.
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