Half-Life 2 Delayed Again?

[CSN NewsBot]

Gamespot has revealed that in recent court filings, Vivendi Universal Games is able to possibly delay Half-Life 2 for up to six months as seen in their latest writeup, "Half-Life 2 held hostage?".

The statement's implication is that VUG, angry with Valve's "public statements," could sit on Half-Life 2 for up to six months. But would VUG use this six-month window as leverage to force Valve to back down from demands contained in its original August 14, 2002 lawsuit?

While nothing is set in stone just yet, this certainly does raise a few eyebrows.

[bullet_head]

If VU is willing to give up the income involved, then all power to them.

[spartianII]

i wish no one ever told me about HL2 then i could stop caring and stop hopeing

[Sn00p_B0B]

bullet_head wrote..

If VU is willing to give up the income involved, then all power to them.

cant they released it trough steam and just say fuck VU?

[fat_al]

Didn't see this one coming. /rolls eyes

[Fuzzio]

Sn00p_B0B wrote..

cant they released it trough steam and just say fuck VU?

"According to the two companies' current software publishing agreement, Valve cannot release the game via Steam until the retail version is brought to market by VU Games"

[Vlux]

I'm not surprise. Is VU their publisher? If so, just get someone else to publish it like Activision or something.

[XTRMNTR]

Would a VU be dumb enough to hold HL2 six months beacuse of the lawsuit with Valve...? Are they dumb enough to lose out on all that revenue, if HL2 gets delayed again, you can bet sales would slip because of games like Battlefield 2, the next Splinter Cell, etc.



We've seen games like Doom 3, FarCry, etc, it's in the best interest of all parties involved to release this game ASAP. (VU, Valve, and for the fans who have been waiting forever for this game.)

[Zips]

Let's start the rumor train rolling why don't we?

[narby]

Sn00p_B0B wrote..

cant they released it trough steam and just say fuck VU?

Not if they signed an agreement stating otherwise. VU would take Valve to court for breach of contract and seek damages, which they'd more thank likely win.



I'd image this whole thing becoming a tit for tat legal battle. There's certainly more than meets the eye going on here, that's for sure. It's certainly not uncommon for publishers to attempt to acquire ip/assets of sucessful companies in often unscrupulous ways.



For all we know, VU could have attempted to gain control of the Half-Life IP one way or another and this may have led to hostilities. Sadly, in the world of business this type of thing is common place and fair play.



It will certainly be interesting to watch.

[SolidSnake75]

Wow i had no idea SOMETHING would delay HL2 again.. Im sick of this..

[XTRMNTR]

Vlux wrote..

I'm not surprise. Is VU their publisher? If so, just get someone else to publish it like Activision or something.

Not that simple I'm afraid. If I remember correctly, Valve has a contract with VU to deliver HL2 to VU, having another company publish the game would be a breach of contract.

[MorgaN6]

Half Life 2 Coming soon September 30th, 2009

[narby]

Vlux wrote..

I'm not surprise. Is VU their publisher? If so, just get someone else to publish it like Activision or something.

That's not how things work. You can't just flip between publishers because they did something you dislike.



It's important to remember, the publisher is the CUSTOMER of the developer. Generally, they fund the projects and take the biggest cut at the end of the day. We don't know just how much of the IP VU own of Half-Life 2, but I'm pretty sure they have at least some say in how it will be released.

[b4xcutt3r]

If it's delayed again, I'm cancelling my VU games server FOREVER.