Valve targets October for Episode Two, TF2 and Portal News • News • Eurogamer.net

News PC Xbox 360 PlayStation 3

But, you know, don't place bets.

Valve's legion of fans can start drawing whacking great circles around October, according to marketing director Doug Lombardi.

Lombardi said as much to Eurogamer during a recent visit to the studio to make cooing noises about its Q4 line-up, although he admitted that it wasn't a dead cert. When is it ever?

Half-Life 2: Episode Two, Portal and Team Fortress 2 will be released as a bundle on Steam, Valve's PC-based content delivery network, while Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 owners will be able to pick the games up in two packages - one in which the three stand together and another that also includes Half-Life 2 and Episode One.

All three games were clearly in an advanced state this week, with the developer claiming that the main areas that remain are things like polish and additional graphical tweaks.

You can see what we thought of Portal in our first impressions, with the others coming soon. I can only type so fast. Impatient bastards. In the meantime, you could always read about another Valve project, Left 4 Dead, which charmed the hell out of us (and into us) during our stay.

About Tom Bramwell

Tom is Operations director of Eurogamer Network and Editor-at-Large of Eurogamer.net. He joined the company in February 2000.

Read more articles from Tom by visiting the Tom Bramwell archive page.

Comments (32) Latest comment 5 years ago

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Dabs #1 5 years ago

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Cool. Ep Two bundle and GTA IV. October should be fun.
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ChuffyPI #2 5 years ago

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Do we know if this is due as a boxed game on the PC? As much as I like electronic distribution, the magpie in me does like a shiny disk!
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HoriZon #3 5 years ago

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It will be in a box ep1 was but u still will have to play it via Steam all the box version is the hassle of a download but even then it will still need to dl a bit more before u can play it! tbh its not worth getting the boxed version.
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kissthestick #4 5 years ago

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can someone explain the bundles
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TwistidChimp #5 5 years ago

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I'll believe it when i'm playing it Seriously though, they should take as long as they need. No one really remembers the fact that HL2 was ludicrously late, only that it was chuffing awsome. Take the time to get all 3 right Valve. Especially Episode 2.

Edited by 1 at 16/05/07 @ 13:59
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skillian #6 5 years ago

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Episode 2, Portal, Team Fortress 2 in one box, for the price of a single game.

I honestly think this could be the best game/disc/download ever made.
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Carrybagma #7 5 years ago

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More exciting than Halo.
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JonFE #8 5 years ago

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kissthestick, here is an explanation on the bundles.

Edited by 1 at 16/05/07 @ 14:08
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X201 #9 5 years ago

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HL2 - 16 Nov 2005
Ep1 - 1 Jun 2006
Ep2 - October 2007

Episodic gaming, eh
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absolutezero #10 5 years ago

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The console packages are damn nice yes, but when I get it for my PC im just going to have 4 more hours of Half Life goodness.

This makes me cry ;_;
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SeesThroughAll #11 5 years ago

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HL2 - 16 Nov 2005
Ep1 - 1 Jun 2006
Ep2 - October 2007

Episodic gaming, eh

LOL, so true.

+1
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skillian #12 5 years ago

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@X201: valve themselves have admitted they failed at the whole episodic thing, but they're kind of stuck with the name now.

@absolutezero: Apparently they're looking at a 8-9 hour campaign now for Episode 2. After waiting so long, I guess they felt we deserved it
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belziah #13 5 years ago

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bring on the dancing lemurs

yey
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Darren #14 5 years ago

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With Episode 2 being so ridiculously delayed, shouldn't the PS3 and 360 versions really include it in the retail version or is its absence a cynical way to grab another �20 off potential console owners when they've just paid �40 for Half-Life 2 and Episode 1?
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Darren #15 5 years ago

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@SeeThroughAll - Half-Life 2 was released on the PC in November 2004 by the way...
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SomaticSense #16 5 years ago

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October eh?

Ah well, only about another year and a half to wait then.......
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Spanky #17 5 years ago

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What the hell are they doing with there time!
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jellyhead #18 5 years ago

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Any ideas on pricing?
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HoriZon #19 5 years ago

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PC wise 20-30 notes.

PS3/360 about �50+
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skillian #20 5 years ago

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With Episode 2 being so ridiculously delayed, shouldn't the PS3 and 360 versions really include it in the retail version or is its absence a cynical way to grab another �20 off potential console owners when they've just paid �40 for Half-Life 2 and Episode 1?

I'm pretty sure Episode 2 is in the PS3/360 retail pack, along with Portal and TF2.

edit: OK I see what you mean - there is two packs. Still, the larger bundle will probably be a great value for money deal - it seems a bit harsh to accuse them of cynical money-grabbing.

Edited by 1 at 16/05/07 @ 17:01
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Gulag #21 5 years ago

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i have to say I'm more looking forward to the 'orbiting' games coming with Episode 2 than I am the main feature itself. Everything I've seen on Team Fortress 2, Portal, and now Left 4 Dead have left me with baited breath.

All those new ways to play. I can't wait!

Hasten to us cold, dead October.
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Inflatable #22 5 years ago

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Knowing Valve (always missing releasetargets by many many months) this means it will probably come out in March 2008 or something..
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Artemus #23 5 years ago

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Valve should just stop announcing release dates.
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TR421 #24 5 years ago

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Three months since the last release date I guess.
These press releases, do they conincide with Valve's earnings reports by any chance?
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Kostabi #25 5 years ago

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I was hoping the console release would be HL2, Ep1 and Ep2 all in one bundle. The thought of being able to play through the story in one seamless jolly had me excited. Guess I'll just Steam Episode 2 and TF2/Portal now instead, ho hum.
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spongebob #26 5 years ago

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What do you think, will Episode 2 run decently on a PC that had no problems with the earlier Half-Life's?
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dolphan #27 5 years ago

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"What do you think, will Episode 2 run decently on a PC that had no problems with the earlier Half-Life's?"

If it doesn't I'm going to start screaming. And then start living on bread in an attempt to finance a new comp.
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yagisencho #28 5 years ago

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Slight clarification:

HL2 - 16 Nov 2004 (PC version)
HL2 - 15 Nov 2005 (XBox version)
Ep1 - 1 Jun 2006
Ep2 - October 2007

So that's one episode every 18 months. Quicker than an elephant pregnancy, anyway.
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L0cky #29 5 years ago

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'Quicker than an elephant pregnancy, anyway.'

I had to look that up. 22 months, wow.
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Freek #30 5 years ago

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They're still pretending it's episodic?

**sniggers**
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Vandrius #31 5 years ago

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This excites me more than the idea of a "Resident Halo Gears Fantasy".

*grabs box of tissues*

...excuse me.
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orakio #32 5 years ago

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I praise them for not wanting to release crap
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