Valve Undecided on Future of Episodic Content

[Adam LaMosca]

Valve Undecided on Future of Episodic Content

Whether Valve will stick with the release formula used in its Half-Life 2 episodes remains to be seen, says Valve's Gabe Newell.

Valve's episodic content experiment is already in full swing, with the first installment of its follow-up to 2004's full-length Half-Life 2 having been released last June in a streamlined, four- to six-hour package. According to Valve founder and managing director Gabe Newell, the shorter format of Half-Life 2: Episode One has been well received thus far, but the company's still waiting to see if gamers will embrace the approach for the rest of the series. In an article [http://money.cnn.com/2006/10/02/commentary/column_gaming/index.htm?section=money_commentary] by CNN/Money's Chris Morris, Newell commented, "So far the feedback has been really positive and led me to believe we'll be continuing to do this in the future, but we want to get these three out, then sit back and do a post mortem."

Newell related that customer feedback will play an important role in shaping the company's long-term decisions on release formats. "We're really interested in trying this, then sitting down with some customers and asking them 'Do you want a TV series or do you want movies -- or a mixture of both?'" Newell commented, "It's like they've had a diet of feature length experiences for a long time and this is their first chance to try something different."

Half-Life 2: Episode Two is currently due [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/64286] for release in early 2007, with Episode Three to conclude the series sometime later that year. Episode Two's release will mark the Half-Life 2 series' debut for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 consoles, and will also include the previously announced Portal and Team Fortress 2 titles

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[Demiurge [deprecated]]

The Half-Life 2 episodes really are not a great example of episodic content. Would you continue to follow a show like Friends if they only broadcasted one episode every 18 months? Episodic gaming is a great model, but it's never going to work for a company like Valve.

 

[Goofonian]

I decided the other day that I like the idea of episodic content if its done right.
With the amount of time I have for gaming these days, games that last 6 - 8 hours are about the right length for me and I tend not to get around to finishing anything longer before another game pops up that I want to play more.

If episodic content can be delivered in 4 - 8 hour packages at a fraction of the cost of a full game, then I think I would find myself buying more frequently. The only concern I would have is that developers would start simply releasing additional quests and storylines for games and never get around to upgrading the game as they generally would for a proper sequel.

Would you continue to follow a show like Friends if they only broadcasted one episode every 18 months?

Of course not, but I don't think thats a good comparison. TV shows are watched in one short sitting and then you generally have to wait a week for the next installment. At the end of the season you have to wait months for the next episode. A 6 - 8 hour episode of a game would, on average, take someone like me 3 - 4 weeks to finish, so waiting anything up to a year for the next one seems fine by me. I will have plenty of games to play in the meantime. I'll agree that valve's current 18 month timeline is a little too long, but have a look at what telltale is doing. 3 - 4 hours of sam and max once a month? I'm hardly gonna have time to play anything else!

edit - I've just had another thought. Noone complained about waiting a year between the lord of the rings "episodes" or the matrix sequels or how about starwars? 6 releases over the course of 30 odd years?