The game is just waiting to be played.
We have continuously waited for the release of Valve/Sierra
upcoming PC game Half-Life 2. What was originally pushed back to a July
release has now gone to TBA [to be announced] [see Half
Life article]. Furthermore, it seems that we are not the only ones waiting,
now impatiently, for the HL2 release as pre-orders are still piling up through
companies such as Chips & Bits and Amazon. So, why is the release of
one of the most anticipated PC games being threatened by an after-the-holidays
release? Cause the two companies, Vivendi Universal Games [VUG] and Valve,
behind the Half Life games have been constantly bickering [in court].
Please Release Half-Life 2!
Vivendi Universal Games, in accordance with agreement to 2001 SPA, must
release Half-Life 2 within six months after its release from Valve. Valve,
obviously wanting to catch the holiday season, requested that VUG release
the game within the earliest period of the six months. Valve, supposedly
without the consent or support of VUG, then followed up by doing public
announcements stating that the game will be released this September [last
month!]. VUG's VP, Eric Roeder, responded publicly that VU Games does not
support these announcements.
So what does this mean? It could mean disaster for the people who are waiting
on the release of Half-Life 2. VUG can respond to the unauthorized announcements
by holding the game from retail release for the entire six months; way past
the holiday deadline. The people at VUG can use this holiday deadline to
get Valve to give more concessions to VUG. However, VUG has been hurt before
from withholding games for extended periods and now need the incoming cash
flows that can be generated by such a highly anticipated game as Half-Life
2.
We will continue to hope that Half-Life 2 is released upon the nation before
the holiday season is fully upon us. There have been rumors of a ladder-half
November release but with 'no comment' from either side, who knows for sure.
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