Erik Wolpaw, writer Portal 1 & 2.

Erik Wolpaw, writer Portal 1 & 2.

My guest today is Erik Wolpaw, the American writer for some of the funniest video games yet made. In the nineties he and a friend founded the website Old Man Murray, a satirical online publication that poked fun at video gaming’s sacred cows, and established a tone still prevalent across the internet today. The site was read by Gabe Newell, creator of Half-Life, who later hired both writers.


At Valve my guest collaborated on a new game in which a vindictive artificial intelligence chastises players as they solve a series of puzzle rooms using a gun that fires warp points. Portal became a smash hit; Stephen Merchant, co-creator of The Office, voiced a character in the sequel. Today my guest continues to work as a semi-retired contractor for Valve. “In defense of games, I want to point out that the writing in plays, including everything by August Strindberg and The Lion King, is 100% pure crap,” he once joked. “So, we’re doing better than they are, even though they have the benefit of mostly not being about space marines.”


Play the console:



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Episoder(180)

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Mike Drucker, comedy writer, the Tonight Show.

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Michael Sherman, director of e-sports, Riot Games.

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Eric Barone, creator of Stardew Valley.

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Nina Freeman, gamemaker (Cibele, Tacoma, Last Call).

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Nina Freeman is an American independent video game writer and designer. While a student at Pace University in New York, she was drawn to the work of Frank O’Hara and other poets of the New York School...

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Chet Faliszek, gamemaker (Half-Life 2 series, Left 4 Dead series, The Anacrusis).

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