Erik Wolpaw has departed Valve

It’s hard to make weapon skins funny

It’s been confirmed that Erik Wolpaw, one of the writers behind games like Portal and Left 4 Dead, is no longer working for Valve. Wolpaw and his writing partner, Chet Faliszek, joined Valve after their hugely influential Old Man Murray website was noticed by founder Gabe Newell, and they’ve helped give Valve’s characters much of their humor and personality ever since. Before joining Valve, Wolpaw had written for Double Fine’s Psychonauts, and it appears as though he’ll continue working on the sequel. Wolpaw had been given permission to work on Psychonauts 2 while still at Valve, but will now be able to devote full time to the project.

The departure was confirmed on Twitter by one of Wolpaw’s fellow writers at Valve, Marc Laidlaw. Additionally, Wolpaw’s FaceBook page has been updated to show that he’s no longer a Valve employee.

@Wolpaw left Valve so I can now insult him freely without damaging the company’s reputation. He’s a comic genius and a true original.

— Marc Laidlaw (@marc_laidlaw) February 17, 2017

Valve’s writing team for the last decade has been top-notch, and if you’ve ever repeated a meme about fictional cake, sentient bread, or combustible lemons, it’s likely that Wolpaw had a hand in its creation. Wolpaw had thought he would need to leave Valve in the past due to illness, but was given extended leave to recover. It’s unknown how his departure will affect any titles Valve is currently working on. 

Erik Wolpaw leaves Valve, for real this time [NeoGAF]