Summary
- Valve has a history of embracing fan-made mods, which has led to successful games like Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and The Stanley Parable.
- Portal Revolution is not the first Portal prequel mod, with Portal Stories: Mel also exploring Aperture Science's history and receiving a positive reception.
- A potential official Portal prequel game could delve into Aperture Science's past in detail, exploring the creation of the portal gun and the history teased throughout Portal 2.
Following the long-awaited and highly anticipated release of the Portal 2 mod, Portal Revolution, it seems that fans want to learn more about Aperture Science's history even after so many years, meaning it might be time that Valve considers creating its own official prequel. While it's not unusual for popular games to receive fan-made mods that offer all-new stories and gameplay experiences, such as the upcoming Fallout: London from Fallout 4 or Valve's own Half-Life mod, Black Mesa, Portal Revolution stands out given that Portal 2 came out over a decade ago. Regardless, though, its success at least demonstrates that players want more Portal games.
However, between the ending of Portal 2's main story and DLC, it's been uncertain what direction Portal 3 could take, even though Valve continues to toy with the larger Half-Life universe through games like Half-Life: Alyx and Aperture Desk Job. But with some from Portal 2's development team making indecisive comments about a threequel and other Valve members suggesting it already has games in the works, the prospects don't look good for Portal 3 specifically. However, Portal Revolution has capitalized on the same idea other fan-made mods have had with Aperture's past, which means that Valve could adapt a third Portal game into an official prequel.
Portal Writer Explains Why Valve Is Hesitant to Make a Third Game
It's looking less likely that Valve will ever make a Portal 3, and one of the franchise's main writers explains why this might be.
Valve Should Explore More of Portal's Past
Valve Already has a History of Adopting Unofficial Mods
Unlike most other developers, Valve is among the few that embrace fan-made content, allowing players to have access to its Source and now Source 2 engines alongside tools and mod kits. This has led to the creation of many well-known and popular games, ranging from Counter-Strike: Global Offensive to The Stanley Parable. Beyond this, though, Valve has gone a step further with certain mod projects and provided them with a commercial release just as it did with Black Mesa. In doing so, Valve's support indirectly puts fan-made games like Black Mesa above others, something that it could also do with mods like Portal Revolution.
Portal Revolution Isn't the First Portal Prequel
While Portal Revolution has its own story which takes place between Portal and Portal 2, it isn't the first Portal 2 mod that exists as a prequel. After Portal 2 set up Aperture Science's rich history, it arguably wasn't surprising when Portal Stories: Mel was announced with a story dating back to Aperture's halcyon days. Portal Stories: Mel even served as an inspiration for Portal Revolution, with both games receiving a positive reception. Alongside other mods, such as Portal Reloaded and its time-travel mechanic utilizing both ruined and pristine testing chambers, it remains clear that there's more gameplay and stories for Valve to explore.
The Next Portal Game Should Be A Prequel
Since Portal 2 already has Portal 2: Lab Rat as a canonical prequel, it would be unlikely that a prequel game would explore events directly before the sequel, just as Portal Revolution did. However, a post-credits scene from Portal Revolution does link to Portal 2's lore and climactic Wheatley battle by establishing that Aperture Science has a moonbase where it presumably sourced rocks for Conversion Gel. Since virtually nothing has been officially confirmed, Valve's Portal prequel could similarly explore this, especially if it looks to Portal Stories: Mel for its main inspiration instead of Portal Revolution.
More specifically, an official Portal prequel could explore Aperture Science's past in detail rather than glossing over it like most mods. Building from Portal Stories: Mel's opening section, a Portal prequel could benefit from being set from the fifties onward, as this would allow Valve the freedom to explore the bizarre history teased throughout Portal 2. It could also make use of Portal Stories: Mel's prototype portal gun and Portal 2's vintage testing chambers, showcasing how the gun was created, why testing portals became so all-consuming, and maybe even where the endpoint lies for these tests, ultimately leading into the potential final chapter of Portal 3.
Portal 2
