Marc Laidlaw facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Marc Laidlaw
Laidlaw in 2011
Occupation	Writer
Language	English
Alma mater	University of Oregon
Genres	Science fiction, horror, video games

Marc Laidlaw is an American writer. He is well-known for his work on video games. Before 2016, he was a writer for the video game company Valve. There, he helped create the popular Half-Life and Portal game series.

Before joining Valve, Laidlaw wrote novels. His books were often in the fantasy and horror styles. In 1996, he won an award for his novel The 37th Mandala. His short story "400 Boys," written in 1983, was made into an episode of the Netflix show Love, Death & Robots in 2025.

Marc Laidlaw's Early Life and Writing

Marc Laidlaw went to the University of Oregon. He tried computer programming there but found it difficult. Instead, he focused on writing short stories. His first novel, Dad's Nuke, was published in 1985.

Over the next ten years, he wrote several more novels. During this time, he also worked as a legal secretary in San Francisco.

Discovering Video Games

Laidlaw had played some computer and arcade games. However, he became truly interested after playing Myst in 1993. He loved Myst so much that he bought a new computer just to play it. Later, he wrote The Third Force (1996), a book based on the Gadget computer game world.

Working at Valve: Game Storytelling

Laidlaw joined the video game company Valve when they were making their first game. This game was the first-person shooter (FPS) Half-Life, released in 1998. He was first hired for another game, Prospero, but that project was canceled. He then moved to the Half-Life team as it grew.

Laidlaw explained that he brought "old storytelling tricks" to Valve's game designs. He did not just tell the team what to do. Instead, he worked with them to create ideas together. He was inspired by their experiments. He helped with the "visual grammar" of the level design. This meant focusing on telling the story through the game's buildings and areas. He said, "The narrative had to be baked into the corridors."

Developing the Half-Life Series

For Half-Life 2 (2004), the team worked on making the characters more detailed. Laidlaw added family relationships between the characters. He felt this was a "basic dramatic unit everyone understands" that was not often used in games.

He also worked on Half-Life 2: Episode One (2006) and Half-Life 2: Episode Two (2007). He was involved in several Half-Life projects that were never released. These included Half-Life 2: Episode Three and a virtual reality game. Laidlaw had planned for Episode Three to finish the Half-Life 2 story. After that, he wanted to "step away from it" and let new creators take over.

In 2012, Laidlaw used Twitter to tell a story about the Half-Life 2 character Dr Breen. He called this story "fan fiction." He wrote that he could not personally make a new Half-Life game. He said, "All I can personally do, at least for now, is stuff like this."

Contributions to the Portal Series

Laidlaw also helped with Valve's puzzle game series Portal. These games are set in the same world as Half-Life. He did not like this crossover, feeling it "made both universes smaller." He later said he had to accept that the games were going in that direction without his full agreement.

After Valve: New Projects

Laidlaw announced he was leaving Valve in January 2016. He said his main reason was his age. He planned to go back to writing his own stories. He felt he was becoming a "negative force" at Valve. He thought he was holding back the creative process. He said, "I think at some point you need to let the people who are the fans and the creators... have that." He also said he was tired of the FPS game style. He wanted to find new ways to tell stories in these games.

On August 25, 2017, Laidlaw shared a short story called "Epistle 3." He described it as "a snapshot of a dream I had many years ago." Many people thought it was a summary of the plot for Half-Life 2: Episode Three. However, Laidlaw later said this was not true. In 2023, he said he regretted publishing the story. He felt he had been "completely out of touch" at the time. He also said it caused problems for his former co-workers at Valve.

Valve released a new game, Half-Life: Alyx, in 2020. As of 2023, Laidlaw had not played it. He said he did not want to see another Combine soldier again. He also said he would not be interested in returning for future Half-Life games. However, he was open to working on other game projects.

In 2018, Laidlaw finished a new novel called Underneath the Oversea. He could not find a publisher for it. So, he published it himself on Kindle. He felt the publishing world had "forgotten who he was." He also believed his age made it harder for publishers to find him a new audience.

In 2025, his 1983 short story "400 Boys" was made into an episode of the Netflix series Love, Death & Robots. Laidlaw was not involved in making the show. He said it was "fun to sit back and not have to be involved in the trenches on something for once."

Marc Laidlaw's Personal Life

In 2003, Laidlaw shared his favorite games. These included the Legend of Zelda series, Animal Crossing, Um Jammer Lammy, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, Ico, Fatal Frame and Thief: The Dark Project.

After leaving Valve, Laidlaw moved to Kauai, Hawaii. He then moved to Los Angeles in 2020. He has an amateur radio license. His call sign is WH6FXC. Laidlaw also enjoys writing and recording music.

Games Marc Laidlaw Worked On

See also

In Spanish: Marc Laidlaw para niños