Arkane Co-Founder Reveals Details Behind Half-Life 2: Episode 4 Cancellation

Arkane Studios co-founder Raphael Colantonio spoke on a recent episode of the Quad Damage Podcast not only about Dishonored 3, but also about the cancellation of Ravenholm, an ambitious spin-off from Half-Life 2.

Image source: Steam (Viej)

As a reminder, Arkane developed Ravenholm from 2006 to 2007. The game was based on a prototype of the untitled fourth episode (the third was made by Valve) from the Junction Point studio, headed by Warren Spector.

In the 2020 documentary Noclip, Colantonio said Ravenholm was shut down for business reasons: the project needed “another year and at least that much money,” and Valve’s episodic business model couldn’t make it work.

According to the plot, Father Grigory became fascinated with experiments on headcrabs and was supposed to turn into a mutant (image source: Noclip)

According to Colantonio, Valve gave Arkane a year to make Ravenholm, but at the end of 12 months, the studio had only an “alpha”: “A complete game from start to finish with a couple of polished and very impressive highlights.”

«”Honestly, [the game] was great. I think if you asked them, Valve employees who played it would agree,” Colantonio said during the Quad Damage Podcast.

Interaction with electricity was one of the main features of Ravenholm (Image source: Noclip)

Colantonio recalls that the cancellation of Ravenholm was devastating for the team, but it was also a schooling experience for Arkane. The studio was also helped to shape at that stage by the recently deceased art director of Half-Life 2, Viktor Antonov.

Ravenholm was supposed to star Adrian Shephard, the protagonist of the Half-Life: Opposing Force add-on. The mechanics of interaction with electricity could be used to solve puzzles and build traps for enemies.