Portal: Alive & Kicking, a fan-made Portal remake that was announced way back in 2011, is finally able to launch after over a decade. But there is a hitch. Based on the team, the sport is currently pending Valve’s approval to publish, and Valve has gone quiet.
“We use source code Valve gave us. We signed an NDA, but not a non-commercial release form originally,” developer Dot Operator explained on the Steam Forums. “We have now signed the non-com form but they have not responded.”
At the top of June, long-time supporters of Portal: Alive & Kicking were concerned that the project had been abandoned. Dot Operator assured that it had not been, and that work was actually finished. “I even have not had any updates from Valve since filling out a non-commercial license template just a few months ago,” they alleged. “I’m grateful they initially gave us that option, but now we aren’t hearing anything. The sport is completed, but we shouldn’t have the power to release it on Steam immediately.”
Dot Operator explained that “The license is required because we now have modified Portal 2’s source code (which already had its own NDA signed to amass it,” so there may be currently no strategy to release the mod even outside of Steam without approval. The team reached out through the same old support channels, but again heard nothing. “Steamworks support tickets are done through the identical system as Steam purchases,” Dot Operator said. “In the event that they don’t respond there, I do not have anywhere else to send requests so far as I do know.”
Weeks have passed by with no update, as Dot Operator reiterates repeatedly that the project is completed — it just cannot be shared with players yet. In a last-ditch effort, Livid-Lively-3121 posted in regards to the situation on the sport’s subreddit within the hopes of raising awareness. “The developers’ hands are tied by the NDA, and Valve is just sitting on a finished game,” they alleged. “Spamming support doesn’t work, but making a public noise might. Let’s bring some attention to this project so Valve finally notices those forms from March! We have been waiting for this mod for years.”
Valve has been incredibly open to collaborating with modders up to now, even hiring developers and folding their games into its portfolio, as with Counter-Strike, Dota, and Team Fortress, a few of its biggest hits. As recently as 2020, Valve approved the fan-made Half-Life remake Black Mesa to launch on the Steam store — even allowing Crowbar Collective to charge for the sport. Portal: Alive & Kicking is a similarly ambitious reimagining of the unique Portal, but unlike Black Mesa, it’s free-to-play, so it’s especially strange that Valve has gone radio silent on the team.
We now have reached out to Valve for clarification.