Marc Laidlaw penned the short story "400 Boys" in 1981 at the age of 21, well before his renowned tenure as Valve's lead writer and a key figure behind the Half-Life series. The story first appeared in Omni magazine in 1983 and later gained broader recognition through its inclusion in the anthology "Mirrorshades: The Cyberpunk Anthology." On his website, Laidlaw notes that "400 Boys" has likely reached more readers than any of his other works, save perhaps for his seasonal ad copy for Dota 2. While the gaming community knows him best for his contributions to Half-Life, Laidlaw's creative endeavors span far beyond video games, illustrating the unpredictable nature of a career in writing.
In the narrative of "400 Boys," set in a post-apocalyptic city, warring gangs adhere to a bushido-like code of honor. The emergence of the 400 Boys gang forces these factions to unite, blending beauty and brutality in a story brought to life by Canadian director Robert Valley, whose episode "Ice" from the series Love, Death and Robots won an Emmy for Outstanding Short Form Animation.
Reflecting on the story's origin, Laidlaw shares, "The inspiration for it just came out of walking around. I lived in Eugene, Oregon, and there was always the phone poles with the names of bands that were playing in town, and it was just name after name of super cool bands. I just wanted a way to do that. I came up with the idea of having all these gangs in the story so I could come up with names for all these different gangs. That was kind of the thing that drove a big part of the story."
Marc Laidlaw is done with Half-Life, but not, it seems, the internet. Photo credit: Mimi Raver.
Over four decades after its initial publication, "400 Boys" has found new life as an episode in the fourth season of Netflix's acclaimed animated anthology series, Love, Death and Robots. Directed by Robert Valley and written by Tim Miller, with John Boyega lending his voice, the story has unexpectedly surged into the spotlight. Laidlaw admits he never anticipated this resurgence, noting, "The story kind of faded out, but cyberpunk kept going and I didn't really think about it that much."
It took 40 years for "400 Boys" to be adapted, a journey that could have been shorter. Around 15 years ago, Tim Miller from Blur, known for their video game cutscenes, expressed interest in adapting the story, but the project fell through due to studio changes. The launch of Love, Death and Robots in 2019 rekindled the possibility, with Miller's involvement in the series reigniting Laidlaw's hope.
400 Boys is now an episode of Love, Death and Robots on Netflix. Image credit: Netflix.
After moving to Los Angeles in 2020, Laidlaw met with Miller several times, though he remained cautious about pushing for "400 Boys." Eventually, a year ago, he received the long-awaited email from Miller about optioning the story. Laidlaw had minimal involvement in the adaptation but was pleased with the visual enhancements that Miller and Valley brought to the project. "It just was fun to sit back and not have to be involved in the trenches on something for once," he says.
Laidlaw's career trajectory took a significant turn when he joined Valve in 1997, contributing to the iconic Half-Life series. After retiring from Valve in 2016, he found himself in a position to pursue projects of his choosing. Despite his "hard retirement," Laidlaw admits, "I think I retired too hard. I never wanted to stop being creative." He ventured into music and shared insights from his time at Valve through documentaries and YouTube videos, humorously noting, "I'm like, I'm in the wrong business! I should just be leaking information about my old employer."
Reflecting on revisiting Half-Life for the Valve documentary, Laidlaw found it therapeutic, allowing him to reconnect with old friends and reflect on his past contributions. With the Half-Life and Half-Life 2 anniversary documentaries completed, the only Valve project left for him to discuss is Dota 2, now 12 years old.
Despite his history with Half-Life, Laidlaw remains open to returning to video game writing, expressing a wish that Hideo Kojima had reached out during the development of Death Stranding. However, the lack of compelling offers post-Valve surprised him, with some of the proposals he received being far from his expertise, like a mobile phone laser tag game.
When asked if he would return for a hypothetical Half-Life 3, Laidlaw firmly declined, emphasizing the importance of letting new creators take the helm. "I would not do that," he stated. "Even when I was there, I started to feel like, ‘Oh, now I'm the old guy shooting stuff down.’" He also mentioned not having played Half-Life: Alyx, feeling out of touch with current developments at Valve.
Laidlaw's journey from "400 Boys" to Half-Life and beyond showcases his diverse contributions to storytelling. The adaptation of "400 Boys" by Netflix highlights the enduring relevance of his early work, and perhaps, in the future, other projects like Half-Life might find new life in different mediums. Laidlaw reflects on his career, saying, "The fact that I got into the cyberpunk thing before it was called cyberpunk, and then I came across this sort of beginning game company that ended up making Half-Life… I've been lucky to be a part of these things that just kind of become phenomena."
