Valve lost its get-up-and-go so Half-Life 2′s AD got up and went
Valve when it was started, was cutting edge and a real revolutionary company as it was small and uncorrupted by politics. This is the
Viktor Antonov’s concept art for Half-Life 2
atmosphere described by the AD, Art Director, of Half Life 2 and several of its biggest hits in the “good ol days” before it evolved to be money driven more so that art driven. Like the focus on the new Steam box (i.e. a Steam console). Eurogamer reported yesterday that the AD Viktor Antonov jumped ship as basically it was getting full of steam at Valve, and stale.
Antonov is the visual design director for Zenimax now. He oversees the visual design behind the mega-franchises such as Bethesda Game Studios, id Software, and Arkane. Atnonov has a great deal to do with for the visual design of such AAA franchises such as The Elder Scrolls and DOOM. Nothing to sneeze at.
“It causes a lot of surprise that anyone would leave Valve. I left Valve, and all my good friends from there, for the specific reason that I had spent six years of my life on one single project, and that’s a lot,” said Antonov. “And, as an artist, I wanted to express myself in a whole variety of ways. So, since then, I have done two feature films, TV series, I’ve designed a third feature film, I have done three separate games and an illustrated novel, as an independent author. It was very important for me to be independent and active and work with European talent, and have more maneuverability in my life.”
Viktor Antonov’s concept art for Half-Life 2 seen on Eurogamer
Pitching Team Fortress 2 was Antonov’s last work for Valve before handing the reigns to Moby Francke. Hes already in France, where he lived as a young boy- so everything is full circle to him.
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