Half-life 2 Art Director Viktor Antonov - Why I Left Valve

[Hectic Glenn]

Everything you have seen in City 17 and the Half-life 2 universe comes from the mind of Viktor Antonov whose art direction for 6 years shaped the game into what it became. Until now, we never knew why Viktor decided to move on from Valve but he has revealed his reasons in a recent interview with Eurogamer.

"I left precisely when they stopped making epic, triple-As, which was Half-Life 2, since then, they were episodes. Valve is a great place, but I'm interested in projects, not in companies.

I went to Valve specifically for Half-Life 2. I went and I collaborated with Arkane to do The Crossing and Dishonored. I put the project above everything else.

There has been a feeling that Valve burned themselves out on producing Half-life titles after the Orange Box and since have focused on establishing new IPs and developing Steam in order to grow. This being something which Viktor wasn't keen on.

"Valve has grown into a much bigger company, and what I really enjoy about the philosophy of Arkane is that it's a small, core team that does risky creative projects. And when I went to Valve, they were a small company. They've grown now, they're much bigger, and I'm interested in a certain level of creative risk taking and a certain energy that can be compared to jazz, jamming or rock n' roll, where it's small, it's intense and it's about making revolutions in the media.

It causes a lot of surprise that anyone would leave Valve. I left Valve, and all my good friends from there, for the specific reason that I had spent six years of my life on one single project, and that's a lot"

Viktor also ruled out returning to Valve in the future, even for something such as Half-life 3, as he's sitting fairly comfortable these days overseeing all visual design for Zenimax owned studios but he did admit his "best schooling in everything I did today is due to working with Gabe Newell and making Half-life 2, because this was my second education pretty much." For me, he will always remain sadly missed. Eurogamer.

 

[Omnomnick]

For me, he will always remain sadly missed.

Oh Glenn, you so mopey. You act like he died. I think Valve have shown with TF2, L4D and Portal 2 that they still have amazing talent in the visual design department. Yeah he left Valve but hes doing a great job with Dishonored so I really can't complain.

 

[Naph]

He is the Igor version of James May. I had no idea he was working on Dishonoured. Now I must not wait for this game.

 

[Hectic Glenn]

When someone leaves Valve, they are almost dead to me! Except Kim. Never forgotten.

 

[Omnomnick]

Except Kim. Never forgotten.

"I'm not even going to tell you to shut up."

EDIT:

I had no idea he was working on Dishonoured

You seriously couldn't tell from the art style? A lot of the location themes are pretty much taken from images seen in Raising the Bar. Not to mention those car-train things and the Tall-Boy walkers.

 

[-smash-]

I love you, Viktor! Come back to Valve! Peter Konig had no problems and he's a pro, too.

 

[Stigmata]

When someone leaves Valve, they are almost dead to me! Except Kim. Never forgotten.

But, assuming you're talking about Swift, Kim is terrible and has only developed a bad Portal knock-off and apparently was fired

 

[JVC04123]

I hope his new journey will suit his needs. Thanks for making Half-life 2 epic!

 

[Mu6o]

The cool story of this all is that only Bulgarians understand some things and clues he put in HL2...

 

[Paulaner]

Valve stopped making epic, triple-As. Yes Viktor, you are right. All we have is L4Ds, Portals and TF2 hats.

 

[Juan]

But, assuming you're talking about Swift, Kim is terrible and has only developed a bad Portal knock-off and apparently was fired

Who said that?. What I heard was that she left because the prudes at Valve wouldn't let her present her game in the "My First Time" game design challenge for GDC 2009.

And hey, certainly Quantum Conundrum is no Portal 2, she doesn't have anywhere the resources she had at Valve, but it's a very nice title, and it's at $15. Hardly comparable.

 

[irk]

Best of luck to him

 

[sharkyshu]

Great man. Всичко най-хубаво!

 

[Omnomnick]

People also complain(ed) about how Kelly Bailey left Valve and while yes he did some awesome music for Half-Life and Half-Life 2, I personally think Mike Morasky has done an even better job with Team Fortress 2, L4D and Portal music.

I see no problem with people leaving Valve if they don't enjoy sticking around, but as long as Valve has brilliant talent behind them, I have no problems or issues.

EDIT: The crap is with all the dislikes? Does the truth hurt that much?

 

[WildBeλ³st]

Great man. Всичко най-хубаво!

Да, но искам да работи и върху Half-Life 3 … Без него няма да е същото.

 

[Tollbooth Willie]

But, assuming you're talking about Swift, Kim is terrible and has only developed a bad Portal knock-off and apparently was fired

People also complain(ed) about how Kelly Bailey left Valve and while yes he did some awesome music for Half-Life and Half-Life 2, I personally think Mike Morasky has done an even better job with Team Fortress 2, L4D and Portal music.

I see no problem with people leaving Valve if they don't enjoy sticking around, but as long as Valve has brilliant talent behind them, I have no problems or issues.

EDIT: The crap is with all the dislikes? Does the truth hurt that much?

Posts like these coupled with the like/dislike system show who the deluded Valve fanboys are.

Quantum Conundrum is nothing more than Swift's terrible attempt at replicating Narbacular Drop and Portal. Get over it you stupid goddamned nerds.

 

[SpotEnemyBoats]

This exact quote says to me one thing, the quality of Valve titles has gotten worse. They have strange fetish for non-AAA mulitiplayer games with ingame stores.

CSGO is a perfect example of a game with barely any effort put into it, most recent by Valve. I expect to be down voted in 3... 2.. 1..

 

[Vegeta897]

while yes he did some awesome music for Half-Life and Half-Life 2, I personally think Mike Morasky has done an even better job with Team Fortress 2, L4D and Portal music.

Sorry but no.

 

[sharkyshu]

Да, но искам да работи и върху Half-Life 3 … Без него няма да е същото.

Със сигурност няма да е същото. Атмосферата, която беше в HL2 едва ли ще бъде усетена пак.

 

[Hectic Glenn]

Posts like these coupled with the like/dislike system show who the deluded Valve fanboys are.

Quantum Conundrum is nothing more than Swift's terrible attempt at replicating Narbacular Drop and Portal. Get over it you stupid goddamned nerds.

How does that show who are 'deluded' Valve fanboys? By disliking that statement, people are disagreeing with saying Kim is bad - she's not even a fan employee. She left on amicable terms to lead a team, the structure at Valve didn't work for her. QC was her vision and she wanted to see that project through. I'm not denying it's not the same quality as a Valve product, it could never be, Airtight would struggle to do that on their best day.

I have no problem with her wanting to leave and do her own thing. Valve is huge and she didn't want to be a small fish in a big pond, she wanted to lead a project again and fulfil her career ambitions. The anger people direct at her is so unnecessary and in my opinion those individuals are the mindless fanboys, incapable of understanding that Valve isn't the epitome of achievement for everyone and some individuals including Kim and Kelly, want to move onto other projects to achieve different things. Valve isn't perfect.

 

[kineaesth]

I agree with you on the first point Glenn -

Kim is terrible and has only developed a bad Portal knock-off

What on earth does this even mean?