We have zero reasons to assume that a new Portal game is happening, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t notable people talking about it. Recently, Portal 2 writer Erik Wolpaw spoke on the Kiwi Talkz podcast about the possibility of a third game in Valve’s iconic puzzle-platformer. Towards the end of the podcast, Wolpaw states: “We’ve gotta start Portal 3. That’s my message to whoever.”
The main reason that Wolpaw wants another Portal game is that he is aware of his age. Wolpaw has been working in the games industry for around 40 years and is concerned that he is “going to be too old,” to continue his work at some point. If he’s going to write a third Portal game, then Valve can’t wait around too long.
Wolpaw believes that Valve’s reasoning for making so few games is money-related. It’s fair to assume that another game in the Portal series would be profitable but would it “make Counter-Strike: GO money,” as Wolpaw puts it. Valve has to consider the opportunity cost before greenlighting any project.
How much of a say does Wolpaw have?
Despite all of his talent, Erik Wolpaw will probably never have the final say on if Portal 3 is made. He is a writer and not one of the higher-ups at Valve. Even so, his voice does carry more weight than the average person thanks to his contributions to various Valve published games.
Wolpaw has worked on Portal, Portal 2, Half-Life 2, Half-Life: Alyx, Artifact and Left 4 Dead. He has good relations with Valve, and there are likely people at the top of Valve who value his work. Unfortunately, there is a lot of decision making that goes into making a new AAA game. There is probably not one person who can make that call alone, and if there is, his name isn’t Erik Wolpaw, it’s Gabe Newell.
