"Mixed messages" over Half-Life 2 on Xbox
Comments made by Microsoft's David Hufford in an interview with American City Business Journals have cast doubts over whether Valve's Half-Life 2 will appear on Xbox after all, despite assurances last month that a version for the console is in development
Comments made by Microsoft's David Hufford in an interview with American City Business Journals have cast doubts over whether Valve's Half-Life 2 will appear on Xbox after all, despite assurances last month that a version for the console is in development.
Hufford, who works as a product manager in the Xbox division, told the publication that "Valve is sending us mixed messages" regarding the Xbox version of the game, and stated firmly that "as of now, Half-Life 2 is not going to be on the Xbox."
His comments contradict a quote attributed to Valve's Doug Lombardi in German mag AreaXbox last month, which stated that "we're also working on an Xbox version" - a fairly clear message, if you ask us. A number of Xbox magazines have run previews claiming to be of the Xbox version of the title.
That said, if Valve are unhappy with the performance or (perhaps more likely) with the business terms of their Xbox version, it wouldn't exactly be a groundbreaking move for them to cancel the release of the port, no matter how far through development it is. The Dreamcast version of Half-Life was almost entirely finished when it was pulled from release schedules, and preview gold copies of the game can still be found floating around on online auction sites occasionally.