All this E3 stuff just to get funds?

[Foggy]

This is just a rumour, but what if Valve had allmost no cash left, i mean, after 5 year of development, the amount of cash had to stop somewhere. They thought, well, let's get people eager for Half Life 2, put all our efforts in the E3 levels and show them our Engine.

- This way we can sell the engine and get money (Bloodlines)
- Grab some deals with big firms (Ati and Dell)

Now we can continue developing!

Considering the amount of info on Half Life 2 and the diversity of landscapes we have seen.. 3 new screenshots, one from the E3 show and 1 new 'blocky' screenshot. This just doesn't look good. i'm thinking Christmas 2004. "This is a big project, it isn't finished yet"
I remember at the Tokyo show (august?) Valve said they we're still aiming for that 30 September release. It's 20 December now, Why? They HAD to get some deals with other firms to get their cashflow running.

Anyone with me?

(don't discuss the thief or steam, they are not related)

 

[RoyaleWithCheese]

I don't think VALVe was or is low on cash. They have paid for HL2 development with their own funds. And even now I think that they're not too low on cash. It just takes time to deliver a product that meets all the VALVe requirements. And some serious errors in estimating the release date were made, some unexpected events have occured and a shitload of lies have been told.

 

[Maxi]

They made the deal with bloodlines LONG before E3.

 

[Top Secret]

What are you talking about MaxiKana? Foggy's right, they did E3 to sell the engine. The guys making Bloodlines saw the HL2 E3 booth, ran in there, laid down XXX money, booked back to their studio, threw on some models, dialog, animations, a new lighting and particle system. Then booked back to E3, and advertised their game. :naughty:

 

[chimpmunk]

interesting, hope it's not true , it would mean other delays are probable and quite sure

 

[Shinobi]

I can't say why,, but trust me, that's not the reason they went to E3

 

[JonTheCanuck]

how much does it cost to make a game like hl2 do ya think? especially taking into consideration that its been in the making for 5 years. Also, anybody know how much hl1 probably made? please dont answer if u have absolutely no idea.

 

[azz0r]

So ridiculous its not funny.

 

[Keeson]

This is just a rumour, but what if Valve had allmost no cash left, i mean, after 5 year of development, the amount of cash had to stop somewhere. They thought, well, let's get people eager for Half Life 2, put all our efforts in the E3 levels and show them our Engine.

I've written a few paragraphs with my speculation about Valve's Evil Plan for 2003 in the thead below.

http://www.halflife2.net/forums/showthread.php?t=15353 <--- see this thread for my comments

- This way we can sell the engine and get money (Bloodlines)
- Grab some deals with big firms (Ati and Dell)

Now we can continue developing!

Considering the amount of info on Half Life 2 and the diversity of landscapes we have seen.. 3 new screenshots, one from the E3 show and 1 new 'blocky' screenshot. This just doesn't look good. i'm thinking Christmas 2004. "This is a big project, it isn't finished yet"
I remember at the Tokyo show (august?) Valve said they we're still aiming for that 30 September release. It's 20 December now, Why? They HAD to get some deals with other firms to get their cashflow running.

Anyone with me?

(don't discuss the thief or steam, they are not related)

I think I agree with your line of thinking, Foggy

I believe Valve's strategy for 2003 had three aspects:

1) Money
2) Big, beautiful piles of money
3) even more money preferably $10's and $20's

Now the reason Valve needs this money (as you point out Foggy) is because they are way behind on developing HL2 and they need revenue to pay the bills to keep the company going till they get the game out the door. To accomplish their "Get Money" plan they needed to create enomous hype and then cash it in in various ways.

So how was Valve hoping to cash in from the E3 hype, in 3 ways I think:

1) Engine Sales (I agree with Foggy on this point)

E3 isn't about HL2 fans its about hawking your product industry types. The tech demo is really just an ad to other game developers to sell the source engine.

2) HL2 packin deal (I agree with Foggy on this point)

Valve cashed (auctioned) in the hype at its peak for a cool $6 million from ATI. They also likey got some cash for showing up at ATI's booth at E3.

3) Steam (I disagree with Foggy on this point)

Steam is costing Valve money but not making them any. So Valve used the E3 hype to build up the steam install base. Valve always knew and intended for Counterstrike: Condition Zero to come out first before HL2 (they knew this way before E3, just as they knew HL2 was never coming out in 2003. )

Now by using the E3 hype to get people to install steam, they now have a base of people to sell CS:CZ to. (CS:CZ being the actual intended holiday release). Valve makes more money for selling a copy of CS:CZ thru stream than selling a retail copy thru their publisher. The big Steam install base created from the fallout of the HL2 hype will allow Valve to maximize their CZ:CZ steam version revenue.


:dork: So there you have it!! The Valve 2003 "GET MONEY" Plan and it all goes to pay the gigantic HL2 development costs.