Valve already working on Half Life 2 Episode 2

Uber developers Valve have announced that while Half Life 2 - Episode 1 - Aftermath isn't ready to release yet, they have already started work on its successor.

When you think about this, you have to wonder why Valve have even bothered mentioning it. It's not as if we expect them to announce something like "we never plan to produce another Half Life game, we're sick of them and nobody wants one anyway." Realistically, Valve were going to get started on a new Half Life product as soon as possible, and there's no doubt that people want it.

It would not be a wild guess to infer that the announcement of Aftermath as Episode 1 happened at the same time that they finally decided to commence work on Episode 2. This would be the moment that they knew that Episode 1 actually was an episode, and not just a one-off sequel to Half Life 2 that would be followed about five years later by Half Life 3 or something.

Given Valve's not exactly impressive record of delivering on time, it's fair to say that announcing that they are working on Episode 2 tells us nothing at all about when it might finally release. Just look at how long it took them to finally get Lost Coast out of the door, and that was just a single small level. Sure, I admire the fact that Valve keep working on a product until it's genuinely read for release, but given that fact I'd prefer it if they didn't manage publicity as if they actually took schedules and release dates at all seriously. If Valve remain true to form, we can expect Episode 2 from one to two years after Valve say it will release.

One small piece of genuine news is that Aftermath will deal with events in and around the Citadel after Gordon's attack; and that it will leave create more questions than it answers with respect to the plot. I can imagine that most people would like to see one or two things from the plot at the end of Half Life 2cleared up a bit. It seems that we will have to wait. Let's hope it's not for five years...