Portal writer was only ‘joking’ about making Portal 3

Portal remains one of the most beloved game series in the world, even though we've only had two mainline titles featuring the iconic portal gun so far. Still, hopes for its continuation remain gargantuan.

The puzzle games proved themselves to be some of the best titles the genre has ever produced, and even to this day, fans remember 2011's Portal 2 especially fondly, as well as going back to its fantastic co-op campaign to enjoy crushing their friends in that one level with the moving blocks. Ah, sweet nostalgia.

But, as conversations around a potential Portal 3 continue to swirl around ex-staff of the game, it turns out that not everyone who said they wanted the game was entirely serious.

Portal writer was 'joking' about Portal 3

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As he appeared on the recent episode of the My Perfect Console podcast, Portal series co-writer Erik Wolpaw has revealed that he's not entirely serious when he's asked about wanting Valve to bring the series back for the elusive third instalment.

"It's a joke," he says. "But the real reason is that in a flat structure like Valve, there is an opportunity cost to doing anything. And whatever is going on at Valve right now requires the dedication and participation of the people working on it, and it's voluntary.

"So to some extent, I would like to make a Portal 3 but I understand that – other than the fact that I'm largely joking when I say it, just to give Valve and the people I work with some crap – it is to really go out and advocate for something like that, could it be destructive, just in the sense that you don't want to cause internal strife?"

Wolpaw suggests that Valve is smaller than we think it is

Following this revelation, Wolpaw goes on to indicate that his words could actually cause a lot of internal damage at Valve, as it's not actually as big a company as we think it is.

"The thing is, Valve is not a giant company," he says. "I think people sometimes think it is because of the outsize influence of Steam, but it's not really that many people."

Championing Portal 3 would lead to a lot of work, as Wolpaw concludes, "It takes manpower to keep Dota going, it takes manpower to keep CS:GO going, and the freeform nature of Valve means that there are a lot of experiments that simply fail.

"If you were inside Valve, you would think that stuff was always going on, because it is." mWhatever this means for the future of Portal is anyone's guess, but one thing's for certain - we need to stop asking writers about it. Leave 'em alone, guys.