Doug Lombardi, Valve's Director of Marketing, has coyly hinted at a summer 2004 completion date for the game. This would, of course, mean that the April release date, suggested by Vivendi Universal, the game's publishers is definitely not on, making a September (30th?)2004 date much more likely. Console owners may get H-L 2 vouchers with the next-next gen units they purchase.

This statement does not mean that Valve is about to cease the media embargo on which it embarked immediately following the source theft. Any further information about the game and any chance of a specific release date will have to wait until May this year and the E3 exhibition.

Now the conspiracy theorists among you, determined to believe that Valve is behind the entire source theft and consequent delay of Half-Life 2 will have further reason to howl, since the original delay, from September 30th 2003, preceded the source theft which in itself could not possibly account for a summer 2004 completion date, unless the FBI investigation into the theft is the real reason behind the delay.

Putting aside such concerns however, the effects of the series of events surrounding the H-L 2 delay do not exhaust themselves on Valve's upcoming game but have also affected another game which had licensed Valve's engine. Troika, developer of Vampire: The Masquerade ? Bloodlines, a PC role-playing game has also had to push their game back from a 2004 release to a spring 2005 date since their title is using Valve's engine.

Despite this, ever increasing, list of woes Valve are about to announce that Arkane Studios, an independent French developer creator of the critically-acclaimed RPG Arx Fatalis, has licensed the engine for a forthcoming title. Since the game has no announced title, let alone a release date it is not certain if and how the recent delays have affected its progress but it would seem that things may be starting to look up for Valve. A definite completion date in sight and new deals being announced should turn some Valve frowns upside-down.

I can hear the skeptics among you making the connection between the fact that Vampire: The Masquerade ? Bloodlines, is a VU Games published title and that Arkane Studios are a French outfit. Although such a connection could imply some VU pressure on their home turf in order to boost Valve and its image, I implore you not to make such inferences and take pity on the poor and troubled Valve.