Needless to say, most folks have been… a bit excited regarding Valve’s E3 showing. They’ve booked a private press room, just as they did for their previous game announcements and reveals, and they’re talking about a possible big unified PC platform press conference, something completely new for E3. So it makes sense that they might be planning something big. However, there’s been some… developments, so to speak. Let’s take a look.
In a forum post on ValveTime, Casper Hansen shared this screencap of an e-mail exchange with Gabe:
In it, Gabe simply says: “We are not announcing anything at E3. Really. We are not announcing Half-Life 3 or Portal 3 or Left 4 Dead 3. We are going to be showing stuff everyone already knows about (CS:Go, Dota 2, 10′ UI, …)”.
It does sound a bit hinky: the odd and almost sarcastic tone, chiefly the strange inclusion of ”Really.”; as well as the odd mention of Dota 2, which, as they said last year, is not the kind of game they’d show off at E3; and, simply the way he’s just being so candid and open about this, especially through mentioning HL3 by name, something Gabe has never done before. Casper himself had made a YouTube video demonstrating the legitimacy of the e-mail, but many were still understandably skeptical.
To solve the mystery, community member Surf, who is a close friend of mine, and the leader of the Call for Communication, decided to take matters into his own hands, and ask Gabe if the aforementioned e-mail reply was real. Turns out that, yes, as proven by this screencap of his e-mail reply to Surf, the original e-mail is legitimate - and so, according to Gabe, we will not be seeing any new announcements from Valve at E3 2012.
If you ask me, it still looks and sounds a bit too hinky, but I don’t think Gabe would really lie to us. To be honest, I don’t know what to think at this point, but one thing’s for sure – I’m not getting excited over whatever Valve may have in store for this E3, and I think neither should you.
Source is ValveTime.
33 Responses to “Gabe Sez: No New Game Announcements At E3?”
http://kotaku.com/5905969/numerology-proves-half-life-3-will-be-announced-at-e3-really
ultimate proof
Hahaha, oh wow. It’s Kotaku – what does anyone expect, really?
I think Gabe is just tired about this subject, so he spoke that way
He didn’t say they wouldn’t be showing Half-Life 2: Episode 3.
That’s because Episode Three is gone, and has most likely been replaced by a full-fledged Half-Life 3. The idea that Valve would, after half a decade of silence, reveal an “Episode”: a 6-to-8 hour game bearing the name of Half-Life 2… a completely different game that was released almost a decade ago… is insane.
Not only that, but Episode Three itself was never officially announced – merely brought up in interviews – just like Portal 2, which also received a formal announcement only 2 years after Kim Swift had mentioned in a video interview that Portal 2 was in development.
Going to kill myself brb
Hang on, man. I’m going with you.
FAKE.
Seriusly, are they showing a F2P game which although is in closed beta es the 4th most played game in steam, a $20 game that is gonna be released in about 2 months?
Come on! these games don’t have anything else to show. The community has already done that. Look how many Dota 2 and CS:GO videos are in Youtube!
What about SOB?
Gabe never replies to my emails…
same
I got a restraining order….
Im just being a little obsessive but let me analyze each part of the email (just for the fun of it
)
“We are not announcing anything at E3.”
By announce we should understand: “to make known publicly or officially; proclaim; give notice of”, so, if Valve will not “announce” nothing, what will they do then? Play DOTA 2 in front of the press? *Tsk* *Tsk* *Tsk*
“Really.”
Really?
“We are not announcing Half-Life 3 or Portal 3 or Left 4 Dead 3.”
Ok, no one ask about HL3, Portal 3 is to soon and L4D3 never was an option, but he didnt state “we are not announcing Half-Life 2 Episode 3″ (wink wink).
We are going to be showing stuff everyone already knows about (CS:Go, Dota 2, 10′ UI, …)”.
Ok, “everyone already knows”, what is UI? I dont know about that and im part of everyone right? And also, the piece of resistance, the 3 “…”. Am i seing ghost in damps?
Just my two cents.
Regards from an argentinean Half Life fan
I did think it was odd that he mentioned Portal 3 and Left 4 Dead 3. When did we even discuss those titles?
They have discussed Portal 3, but very lightly and cautiously.
UI is User Interface. Steam is supposed to receive a 10′ interface to play on large TVs…
I think hes just getting tired of being asked all the time about game reveals, and is starting to show in his E-mails.
1. It’s still not confirmed that it’s not fake.
2. Gabe sound very sarcastic at his comment.
Check the bottom of the second to last paragraph.
Yeah, I was writing an article about this earlier and (while I didn’t say it at the time) I just thought this sounded way to weird. First, and this isn’t that big of a detail, but as far as I know Gabe never refers to the next Half Life as ‘Half Life 3,’ he calls it Episode 3 (fitting since he feels the Episodes ARE Half Life 3).
Second, pretty much what you said: why book a private room to showcase two games that are very well known, well into semi-open betas, and don’t have much new information left attached to them (except for pricing)? I mean it’s possible, but I don’t get it.
Also, could someone clarify what 10′ UI is? I know UI usually refers to User Interface but I don’t see how it fits here.
It’s not much of a surprise that Half Life won’t make an appearance (allegedly) and if something WAS being shown, Gabe probably wouldn’t have replied. The fact he did just means he’s either trying to get people into a certain mindset before E3 and then blow them out of the water or it’s really not a very major presentation.
I guess it could be this mysterious unified PC platform press conference, but then why didn’t Gabe just say that? Everything about this is fishy, but at the same time I’m probably just be grabbing at air.
TL;DR = \I are confused! What you talk about Gabe???\
> Also, could someone clarify what 10′ UI is?
Steam Big Picture?
Oh yeah, you’re probably right.
Still, why a private press room for all that?
I have to be perfectly honest – I’m having a hard time believing anyone would at a VIDEO GAME TRADE SHOW really give a f**k about the 10-Foot/Big Picture UI mode, unless it’s pretty amazing. The same goes for CS:GO – which does not have anything new in store that would warrant any E3 presence, to my knowledge. And Dota 2 – with only 20-30 more heroes to put in and a beta that’s close to topping the most-played games on Steam, the damned thing is nearly complete, and moreover, it’s a PC-Mac exclusive, part of a niche genre – something like that isn’t going to interest journalists, and Valve even said that last year.
But, wouldn’t that explain why it’s a private conference room? Perhaps they’re showing it off solely to interested parties.
No – they also had private meeting rooms for L4D2 and Portal 2. As far as I know, they’re only private in the sense that they are limited to the press, which represents the majority of E3′s attendants. That said, you do make a good point overall.
It’s all entirely possible, but is just curious. Like you said, it just doesn’t make any sense. Speaking of weird stuff Valve could be talking about at E3, anyone remember that ‘secret TF2 project’ they ‘announced’ a while back? It’s another thing that wouldn’t make sense to be shown at E3, but considering what Gabe says they’re doing I guess anything’s on the table. :/
Who knows? He didn’t even bring it up at all.
His response doesn’t make a shred of sense to me. Why on Earth are they hiring out ‘Private Meeting Room 501B’ at E3, where only a select number of people from the press can attend, to show off two games that everybody knows about and that a hell of a lot of people are already playing!?
D: Word’s cannot describe how dissapointing this is :’(
Valve, I still love you! D’:
I’m guessing it’s just like HL2; at this close to E3 they can already tell that it isn’t finished enough for them to show. I’m still hoping for something before the summer, though, I have good money riding on a Meet The Pyro post-video announcement.
Sad sad news indeed. But I can’t say it came as a surprise. But I’m still fairly sure that Gaben and his team is working on the next installment. We just won’t get to see it for a while.
F***********************************************k. Nuff said.
I think you’re over-analyzing it.