Valve is not your typical video game developer. Stationed in Bellevue, Washington, the industry giant tends to operate on its own accord, experimenting in hardware production through the Linux-powered Steam Machines and even publishing. But for many gamers, it’s really Valve’s portfolio of software that fuels conversation online.
From Dota 2 to Team Fortress 2, and Portal to the genre-defining Half-Life, few studios can hold a candle to Valve’s output, and though the company’s production line has been conspicuously silent of late (more on that later), Hollywood has taken a particular interest in engineering live-action feature films based on Valve’s roster of IP.
Portal and Half-Life are the two titles in line for movie adaptations, and in recent years J.J. Abrams (Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Westworld) has become actively involved in making that vision a reality. Last we reported, both projects were still simmering in development as Abrams and Co. conducted “some really interesting discussions” with screenwriters. That still appears to be the case, as yesterday evening, Valve head honcho Gabe Newell hosted a Reddit AMA (Ask Me Anything) in which he was quizzed about the status of both the Portal and Half-Life movies. His reply? “Yep. They’re coming.”
Hardly a status update to stop the presses, but it does chime with previous comments made by Abrams:
“We are having some really interesting discussions with writers, many of whom…once you said you’re doing a movie or show about a specific thing that is a known quantity you start to find people who are rabid about these things. As someone who loves playing Half Life and Portal, what’s the movie of this, it’s incredible when you talk to someone who just ‘gets’ it, it’s like, oh my god, it’s really the seed for this incredible tree you’re growing.”
So, there you have it; despite the box office failings of Warcraft and, more recently, Assassin’s Creed, Valve and J.J. Abrams are still determined to get their Portal and Half-Life movies off the ground.