Half-Life 2 Writer Erik Wolpaw Returns to Valve

Erik Wolpaw, who co-wrote the story for games like Half-Life 2, Portal and Portal 2 with Chet Faliszek and Marc Laidlaw, will return to Valve after two years, Valve CEO Gabe Newell confirmed in an internal email.

Newell received an email from a Valve employee on January 3, asking whether Erik Wolpaw has rejoined the company. A day later, the director responded in a very short email in the affirmative. It is unknown what Wolpaw will be working on at Valve.

Wolpaw was employed by Valve from 2005 to early 2017. After he left, he worked for Double Fine Productions on the story for Psychonauts 2. During his first stint at Valve, Wolpaw formed a writing trio with Chet Faliszek and Marc Laidlaw, writing the stories for games like Half-Life 2, Portal and Portal 2 After Portal 2, however, there was little work for the trio within Valve, so they left the company one by one. Laidlaw left in 2016, Faliszek left just after Wolpaw.

Gabe Newell admitted two years ago that Valve is working on a new single player game. That could be the reason that Wolpaw is working again within the company. He is not the only one returning to the old nest. Jay Pinkerton, a writer involved with Portal 2, left Valve in mid-2017, only to rejoin a year later. It is not known what single player game Valve is working on. The studio released the collectible card game Artifact at the end of 2018. However, there is little story in it.