Another Portal 2 Writer Joins Exodus of Valve Talent

Writer and humorist Jay Pinkerton has departed from Valve after nearly a decade. Formerly a writer at Cracked.com, Pinkerton lent his creative talents to Portal 2 and Left 4 Dead, and produced supplemental content for Team Fortress 2.

Pinkerton's egress comes in the wake of similar announcements from fellow Valve writers Marc Laidlaw, Erik Wolpaw, and Chet Faliszek.

[Source: Facebook via Gamasutra]

Our Take
With four big names having exited Valve in the past year-and-a-half, one has to wonder if the employee migration signifies a departure from the company's creative directive. In recent years, the shift away from narrative-driven games has been a spot of major contention for Valve fans. Creative production has been on the back burner for some time now, in favor of steam marketplace maintenance and support of microtransaction-friendly multiplayer experiences such as Counter-Strike and DOTA 2.With these new priorities in mind, it should come as no surprise that the big creative talents are jumping ship.