HL2: Episode Two coming in the Autumn

Author: Tim Smalley
Published: 7th February 2007
Comments (30) Digg Stumble
Episode Two will launch in Autumn of this year.

Episode Two will launch in Autumn of this year.

Updated:
Since this article was originally published earlier today, the press release from Electronic Arts UK has been updated to state that the release will actually happen some time in "Autumn", rather than the original "Winter" timeframe outlined in the original press release.

Valve and Electronic Arts have announced that Half-Life 2: Episode Two, along with Team Fortress 2 and Portal, will ship together this Autumn.

The game will launch in two boxes: the black box will ship for the PC only, while the orange box will ship for the PC, Playstation 3 and Xbox 360. Both boxes will have Half-Life 2: Episode Two, Portal and Team Fortress 2, but the orange box will also include Half-Life 2 and Half-Life 2: Episode One.

In November, we learned that Episode Two had already been pushed back from its original Q1 2007 release date to "summer 2007", but the latest news suggests that Episode Two won't launch until even later in the year.

Either that, or Valve and EA has cleverly worded the statement made by the two companies. Here's a clip from the original statement:

"Electronic Arts, the world’s leading interactive entertainment company, and Valve, the award-winning studio behind the blockbuster franchises Half-Life and Counter-Strike, today announced the naming and product configurations The Black Box and The Orange Box, two of the most anticipated action game offerings shipping worldwide this Winter 2007."

The press release issued by Electronic Arts UK was updated this evening to reflect what appears to be a mis-understanding on EA / Valve's part, with the release now slated for Autumn 2007.

Discuss in the forums
Quote glaeken 7th February 2007, 18:13
Hope they mean this winter :D, but that only gives them until about March 20th.
Quote Jipa 7th February 2007, 18:20
Unless one lives in a very, very cold and wintery place ;) Maybe Valve has their secret HQ set up on either pole?
Quote steveo_mcg 7th February 2007, 18:32
Hopefully that's just the retail packaged release, maybe steam will get it sooner.
Quote poenanie 7th February 2007, 18:44
that's erm , very late ? :s
Quote TheoGeo 7th February 2007, 19:07
Quote:
Originally Posted by news post
We'll late you make your own minds up on that one.
a little typo maybe?


This episodic content thing doesn't seem to be going as well as planned. Weren't they originaly talking about a few months between each episode? so far it been pretty much anually, which, while quick for a good game, its a bit slow considering the length of these games and the episodic ideal they're working towards.
Quote Redbeaver 7th February 2007, 19:14
well Toronto winter here in Canada starts like in October, so it could mean near the end of this year lol

crap
Quote TheSaladMan 7th February 2007, 19:23
That's pathetic, I thought the whole point of this episodic content fad was that you'd get a small game every 9 months, not every 18 months. Better franchises have whole sequels created in the time it takes Valve to make an expansion.
Quote Tim S 7th February 2007, 19:25
Quote:
Originally Posted by TheoGeo
a little typo maybe?
ta
Quote Nova 7th February 2007, 20:05
eh, i still need to beat HL2 and episode one...
Quote Kipman725 7th February 2007, 20:16
hmm I am of the opinion that episodic content isn't working, it would have been better to release the episodes as a single HL3 with some shiny new graphics as it's going to take the same length of time to get them out of the door as episodes. Although knowing valve it could be even longer, just think of how long HL2 was in development (since the release of HL1).

Ep1 was too short as well... considering it cost so much
Quote DXR_13KE 7th February 2007, 20:24
this is going bad in a fast way.... episodic content will lose. F them if it comes out at the end of this year, it is almost 2 years apart from ep1.
Quote Omnituens 7th February 2007, 20:54
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jipa
Unless one lives in a very, very cold and wintery place ;) Maybe Valve has their secret HQ set up on either pole?
Now you're thinking with Portals.
Quote TomH 7th February 2007, 21:17
Quote:
Originally Posted by Omnituens
Now you're thinking with Portals.
Be nice if they released that a little earlier. It's the only thing I've really been looking forward to in the Episode 2 release
Quote Jokkocze 7th February 2007, 22:53
If I have to wait another year for episode two, I'll seriously go mad! I NEED TO KNOW WHAT'LL HAPPEN!

:'(
Quote knowyourenemy 7th February 2007, 23:08
Technically, the winter solstice does not occur until 12-22-2007 at 6PM... so I hereby declare this to be a horridly thought out announcement. I am sure they mean the game will be coming out soon.
Quote shezzor 7th February 2007, 23:14
By the time Episode 2 is released, I'll have forgotten all about what happened in Episode 1!
Quote speedfreek 7th February 2007, 23:29
So, in valve time that means about this time next year. Damn them for making me wait so long for episode one, while it was worth it I still wanted it sooner. :D
Quote phat-ant 7th February 2007, 23:56
oops, Well i take it that there multi-core code that bit-tech introduced us to a while back is also a little late. big shame, but its not surprise that it has taken so long, just get it when they want us to i guess.
Quote r4tch3t 8th February 2007, 00:33
I want portal.
Haven't played any of the half-lives "pity me"
Episodic content is just not working, the schedules are just too tight to make the game.
Quote Tim S 8th February 2007, 00:40
Turns out that EA UK has updated the press release since we published the original story this afternoon. The time frame for release is now Autumn 2007, not Winter 2007 as originally outlined in the PR. The story has been updated to reflect this change.
Quote cereal_killer 8th February 2007, 01:27
so how long till episode 3 ? 2-3 years ?
Quote Cthippo 8th February 2007, 03:29
I dunno, this might work out about right. Just about the time we get done with stalker, HL2E2 will be out. And then, the next week, Duke Nukem Forever will be released

I'm slowly coming to agree with the naysayers of episodic content. It's a great idea, but it just isn't working.
Quote calib3r 8th February 2007, 03:40
When does Autumn start? I'm über dumb.
Quote Flibblebot 8th February 2007, 09:35
Winter runs from Dec 21 to Mar 21
Spring from Mar 21 to Jun 21
Summer from Jun 21 to Sep 21
Autumn from Sep 21 to Dec 21

At least in the Northern hemisphere. Add 6 months for southern seasons.

I'd agree with other comments about episodic content: SiN was pulled, Half Life seems to have 18 months between episodes. It just isn't working.

But what's taking the time? The engine is already there (barring a few update for multicore stuff etc), the models are already there (barring the introduction of any new creatures). Does the storyline and level design really take that long?

Or are they being held back so they can have the console releases at the same time? :(
Quote DougEdey 8th February 2007, 09:37
SiN made enough money to recoup development costs for ep1 but nowhere near enough to fund development for episode 2. That's why it was canned.

A rumour hit me last week saying that it was being picked up by another development house.
Quote fargo 8th February 2007, 14:53
In my opinion episodic gaming has already gone bust, prime example SIN It seems the more money valve makes
the slower their production. In any case here in the usa
autum or fall as we say is in september so I suppose thats when episode 2 will be released.heres hoping stocker makes it on 3/22/07
Quote Jipa 8th February 2007, 15:29
Though if it takes so damn long to make the episode, I REALLY hope it'll have more to play than the Ep1 did. It was over just when I started to get into HL-mode.
Quote DarkLord7854 8th February 2007, 15:36
Bet it'll be out 5 hours long, and they'll charge the same price for it as Episode1 ofcourse, and then instead of giving us Episode3 they'll introduce Half-Life3 and a half or something and use it to cover up why episode2 took so long.
Quote z3rb 8th February 2007, 18:30
ep3 should still be (fairly) on schedule, winter 2007. It's been in developement for about the same amount of time as ep2, just by a different team.

I just really hope ep3 isn't the end of hl, there needs to be a hl3 (maybe it's already in development? but maybe not :P ) which is as long as hl2.
Quote Rich_13 8th February 2007, 18:56
still holding of ep1 so i can have a "proper" sized play to play through when the next is here. Portal looks like it could be very fun, think of the mods..... :-D
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