Fans haven’t seen a good new game from Valve since Portal 2. The last time the studio made anything good was 2011’s Portal 2 which was a superb game and despite the massive success of the game, Valve decided to dedicate all their resources the world of multiplayer. Launching Dota 2, CS: GO, and recently Artficat. It seems that with the recent release of Valve entering the Battle Royale genre with Counter-Strike: Global Offensive’s Danger Zone update, Someone may have stumbled upon the first of many to come ARG’s that could suggest Portal 3 is in the cards.
Portal 3 – To The Moon and Back?
Portal 2 was a masterpiece of a game that had an ending which wrapped everything up in a neat little bow. After the release, Valve saw the systematic collapse of people who used to work on the Half-Life games until someone ultimately detailed the entire plot of Half-Life 3 and with Valve now running on a skeleton crew of their original members, it seems that we will never get a new Half-Life game.
A few days ago, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive went free-to-play and introduced a new game mode called Danger Zone which is Battle Royale but on a significantly smaller scale. While the news had a mixed reception, it seems that among the set, there is a motel-like structure which has room number 3 blocked off. Inside the room which can be accessed by room 2, you can find a series of computers reading out a series of letters and numbers to the player. Reddit user GetSomeGyros has translated the letters and numbers which comes out as
“I’m making a note here: HUGE SUCCESS”
This is part of the opening lyrics to the ending song of Portal’s, Still Alive.
But wait – There’s MORE!
To add further fuel to the fire, If the player follows the direction all the CCTV’s are pointed at on the map, you will eventually see a ship in the middle of the sea. This is a throwback to the Borealis being part of an easter egg in Portal 2.
There are plenty more intricate details to be found, but so far if this is anything indicative of Valve and their efforts, could they finally be giving us a new game in the world of Portal? Only time will tell.
It is also worth mentioning that the Danger Zone game mode has been a hidden ARG in the game itself for over 2 years, and there is a belief in the community that it was rushed so that Valve can capitalize on the Battle Royale hype and making use of the massive number of active CS: GO players to build the community early-on.
If you wish to visit the Reddit thread and see the remarkable discoveries made by the community, you will certainly not be disappointed.
We can only hope that Valve continues these ARG and eventually does give us an announcement in 2019.