Developer Valve has unexpectedly cancelled its planned E3 unveiling of Portal in favour of ‘a surprise’, with fans immediately jumping to the conclusion that it’s Half-Life 2: Episode Three.
The announcement was made in Valve’s standard comically obscured manner, with a fake e-mail purporting to be from Portal’s dead pan psychopathic computer GLaDOS.
Helpfully the e-mail clarifies that, ‘per International treaties regarding the definition of the word “surprise”, of which both Aperture Science and Valve are signatories, the time, date and content of the actual surprise will only become available as you experience the surprise.’
An easily faked screenshot of what purported to be the menu screen for the almost infinitely delayed Half-Life 2: Episode Three did appear online last week, which in light of this announcement may now have gained some additional credibility.
Beyond that, and Portal 2, Valve has not announced any other new games, almost guaranteeing that the eventual announcement will be genuinelyâ¦ surprising.