Portal writer Erik Wolpaw leaves Valve

Writer Erik Wolpaw has left Valve Software after more than a decade at the company. Wolpaw, whose writing credits include Portal, Portal 2 and the two episodic add-ons for Half-Life 2, confirmed his departure from Valve in an email to Polygon.

Wolpaw, who is also credited in other Valve games like Left 4 Dead and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, also co-wrote the Team Fortress comics.

In 2015, Wolpaw confirmed he was contributing to Double Fine Productions’ Psychonauts 2. Wolpaw co-wrote the original Psychonauts which won a Game Developers Choice Award for best writing in 2006. Psychonauts 2 is slated for release in late 2018.

Double Fine

Prior to joining Valve, Wolpaw co-wrote the groundbreaking gaming website Old Man Murray with Chet Faliszek, who also later became a writer at Valve.

Wolpaw’s exit from the company will likely be seen by fans as a blow to future story-driven games at Valve. Another high profile writer, Marc Laidlaw, who wrote the Half-Life games at Valve, left in 2016.

Reached via email, Wolpaw said of his departure from Valve, “I’m gonna move back to Cleveland and work at my niece’s juice shop.”