Half-Life 2 Release date October 8th?

[ShinRa]

On Friday, when asked if Valve was remained intent on making Half-Life 2 available to gamers via Steam, regardless of what was determined on October 8, Lombardi replied, "Yes."

And our good news friend spud recently im'ed me with news he recieved from Doug Lombardi.

"If depending on the Oct 8th court hearing, what will happen to that day of release ?? valvE wanted to release on that date but what will happen to the date now that the court hearings are happening?"

Doug Lombardi replies "We are Intent of releasing on the 8th of October regardless of the outcome of the court hearing that date"

So is it possible the 8th is hl2's release date?

 

[AntiAnto]

It's speculation, but it's still cool to read

 

[MyrddinE]

Sounds Hoaxy to me

I won't believe it till Doug posts it, and 3 dozen websites confirm that it's really him.

 

[PvtRyan]

It's Doug.

 

[Bait]

Well, if the game does get out of the RC stage soon, it might.

I don't like when people put a specific date on things like this, especially with HL2. It always seems to backfire into people's faces.
I say, expect an October release date if nothing stupid happens between Valve and Vivendi.

 

[Dr0ndeh]

well that would certainly make it a friday, the release day for new games (here in the uk anyway)

i like this theory! :E

 

[ScRaTcH-A-HoLiC]

My fingers are crossed but it's probably not true..

 

[Iconoclast]

Sorry, why does anyone believe what Doug says?

I mean, seriously.

 

[theGreenBunny]

If this is true, the game should go gold pretty damn soon. But hey, even if it isn't the 8th, it probably won't be a long time after that.

 

[alan8325]

I would like to believe that this is true, but I can't help but think that it is either a hoax or a misunderstanding. Perhaps Doug actually did tell guinny's friend that the game will be released on steam regardless of the outcome on Oct. 8, but the statement was misunderstood as to mean that the game will be released on Oct. 8.

 

[Zento]

Does the game have to officially go gold before they can distribute it with Steam?

 

[Ragnarokk]

Technicly it wouldn't have to. Going gold is when the publisher accepts the RC for distibution and makes the "gold" master CD.

 

[Dr0ndeh]

they would royally piss off vivendi, and undoubtedly lead to more lawsuits, if they try to release before its in the shops.

then again if that recent news is anything to go by, valve couldnt give a toss.

 

[SMT]

Where's this October 8th date coming from? Can someone supply a link?

 

[Agent.M]

This is speculation but its one of the more solid theorys I have seen once this site and the 8th does sound like a good date....plus guinny is my pc brother so Im gonna have to keep my eye on this date maybe well get some more info to back this up a little more, one can only hope.

 

[WhiteBoy]

All they stated was that they still intend on releasing over Steam, regardless of the outcome at the hearing scheduled for the 8th.

 

[Feath]

If Doug really said that to Spud, then why isn't it front news?

All Doug said in the article was that they were intending to intending to release on Steam no matter what was decided on the 8th of October.

 

[Alig]

Sorry, why does anyone believe what Doug says?

I mean, seriously.

Because whether you want to believe it or not, hes on Valve's payroll.

 

[Democritus]

Because whether you want to believe it or not, hes on Valve's payroll.

Yeah, but he lies (sorry, uses "Marketing Strategies") all the time. That was his point. His working at Valve has no bearing on his ability to tell the truth on a consistent basis.

 

[Alig]

Yeah, but he lies (sorry, uses "Marketing Strategies") all the time. That was his point. His working at Valve has no bearing on his ability to tell the truth on a consistent basis.

He lied once.

Not to mention all his co-workers (valve) lied to us to.

 

[Democritus]

He lied once.

Not to mention all his co-workers (valve) lied to us to.

Exactly, which means we as a community have a REALLY hard time believing anything coming out of that office that isn't verified, rechecked, gone over, sealed, stamped, validated, and approved by 14 different independent and unbiased sources.

 

[Iconoclast]

Because whether you want to believe it or not, hes on Valve's payroll.

I'm referring to the fact that every single thing I recall him saying ("SDK soon!") was a complete and utter lie.

EDIT - Which isn't to say that he's not right, but to be honest I fail to see why anyone could take what he says without a HUGE dose of pessimism anymore.

 

[SMT]

I'll ask again: where's this Oct. 8th date coming from?

 

[Alig]

Exactly, which means we as a community have a REALLY hard time believing anything coming out of that office that isn't verified, rechecked, gone over, sealed, stamped, validated, and approved by 14 different independent and unbiased sources.

I still dont see how that means doug is just a plain outright liar.

All games company's usually give false release dates out...it just 'happens'. The only company that didnt was ID with doom3 because they never gave out a release date until they knew it was concrete.

And anyway, you, me, him know that HL2 is on the verge of going gold so why would october 8th be so hard to believe? lets say it goes gold tommorow, i think october 8th is pretty reasonable.

 

[Feath]

Yeah, but he lies (sorry, uses "Marketing Strategies") all the time. That was his point. His working at Valve has no bearing on his ability to tell the truth on a consistent basis.

It's a matter of debate as to whether Doug Lombardi lied at all. I've read a number of posts saying "Up until a week before the 30th of September he was saying the game would be definately out on time!". He did no such thing. The very most he did was say that the game should be out on the 30th of September; and that was at the very start of September.

And can you even lie about a release date at all? Were the STALKER developers lying about the game coming out before it was delayed to 2005? Were id lying when Carmack said he expected Doom 3 to come out at the end of 2002?

 

[SMT]

It's a matter of debate as to whether Doug Lombardi lied at all. I've read a number of posts saying "Up until a week before the 30th of September he was saying the game would be definately out on time!". He did no such thing. The very most he did was say that the game should be out on the 30th of September; and that was at the very start of September.

He said it at ECTS in Europe on Sept. 23rd, 2003. Although it's kind of silly to think the release would be up in the air at the beginning of September, he probably had a pretty good idea it would miss the 30th at that point, seven days beforehand. But he said the release date was unchanged.

Also, for the third time, WHERE'S THIS OCT 8TH DATE COMING FROM? SOURCES? LINKS?

 

[KagePrototype]

Also, for the third time, WHERE'S THIS OCT 8TH DATE COMING FROM? SOURCES? LINKS?

it's the date of that court hearing with the Valve/Vivendi court case. I guess someone figured a date on a hl2 forum = a release date or something.

 

[Feath]

He said it at ECTS in Europe on Sept. 23rd, 2003. Although it's kind of silly to think the release would be up in the air at the beginning of September, he probably had a pretty good idea it would miss the 30th at that point, seven days beforehand. But he said the release date was unchanged.

Also, for the third time, WHERE'S THIS OCT 8TH DATE COMING FROM? SOURCES? LINKS?

Hmm, there were two ECTSs? I thought there was just the one at the end of August. Silly me.

Translation for people who think irony means "Sort of like iron, like bronzey or goldy":

He did say that at ECTS but ECTS took place at the start of September last year. The delay was announced on the 23rd of September, so you could argue that they should've announced the delay sooner, but Doug Lombardi definately wasn't insisting that it would come out on time up until the 30th.

Evidence:
http://eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=53027

 

[SMT]

Hmm, there were two ECTSs? I thought there was just the one at the end of August. Silly me.

Translation for people who think irony means "Sort of like iron, like bronzey or goldy":

He did say that at ECTS but ECTS took place at the start of September last year. The delay was announced on the 23rd of September, so you could argue that they should've announced the delay sooner, but Doug Lombardi definately wasn't insisting that it would come out on time up until the 30th.

Evidence:
http://eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=53027

All apologies, upon checking again the date was August 28th. No need to be bellicose. It's still irrational to think Doug Lombardi had no idea that the game would not make a 9/30/2003 release, especially when he was specifically asked if the release date for Half-Life 2 was still September 30th. If the game's not ready now, it sure as heck wasn't ready then.

NOTE: I don't really care either way. You can take your recriminations somewhere else.

 

[Feath]

All apologies, upon checking again the date was August 28th. No need to be bellicose. It's still irrational to think Doug Lombardi had no idea that the game would not make a 9/30/2003 release, especially when he was specifically asked if the release date for Half-Life 2 was still September 30th. If the game's not ready now, it sure as heck wasn't ready then.

NOTE: I don't really care either way. You can take your recriminations somewhere else.

I didn't mean any offense, I was just in a sarcastic mood.

Valve were aware that they may not make the date.(Even Greg Coomber said it would be "tight"). I'm just saying that people who claim that Doug lied continuously up to the 30th of September are making stuff up.

Leave Doug alone.

 

[Edcrab]

No. I don't like Doug; I'm embittered, borderline-psychotic, and arrogant. Nyyah.

The 8th of October doesn't sound too bad to me; fairly plausible, in fact. Whether or not this is a misinterpretation of a statement, of course, remains to be seen... part of me still hopes they can hit a Sept. 30th guideline. At least, regardless of the delay, we can guarantee that the game will be memorable...

 

[ACROW_LEFT]

FREE hl2 for everyone, this game is comin out this year, thats enough for me to happy about :thumbs:

 

[Phosis]

I think the RC process takes a little bit longer than we think it does. I've seen games go gold a month and a half before they come out. Lucasarts does that all the time. Vivendi is a different case though, and mabye they will see an Oct 8th store hit.

 

[FoxDie]

I think the RC process takes a little bit longer than we think it does.

Well we have to remember that they are going through the RC process for at least 3 games (HL2, CS:S, and HL:S) which will probably make the process take a little while than the normal 72 hours.

 

[Jackal hit]

i bet if NOTHING happens on the 8th of october, everyone is gonna say doug "lied again." reread the original post ... there's NOTHING about the game coming out on the 8th, only that they will release the game regardless of what happens on the 8th) ...as a couple of posters mentioned before me.

 

[-Yo-]

No No No ... doug said that the release date is the : 30 september .... 2003.

 

[PvtRyan]

i bet if NOTHING happens on the 8th of october, everyone is gonna say doug "lied again." reread the original post ... there's NOTHING about the game coming out on the 8th, only that they will release the game regardless of what happens on the 8th) ...as a couple of posters mentioned before me.

No, he does refer to the eigth as a date to release the game. He refers to 'releasing on the 8th' regardless of 'the outcome of the court hearing that date'. He refers to the 8th twice, (8th of october and 'that date') meaning that there are two things happening that date.

But I still assume it's a misunderstanding.

Doug Lombardi replies "We are Intent of releasing on the 8th of October regardless of the outcome of the court hearing that date"

 

[Sprafa]

sit down. Look at a white wall. Wait.

HL2 will come out. eventually.

 

[Asknoone]

(10 char)

 

[N@Sc]

well its coming very soon since pc gameplay already has a full review of it ^^