Valve "not schizophrenic" despite its release schedule being a bit sporadic

Valve has said its release line-up is not as random or "schizophrenic" as it appears to be, but is, in fact, a properly planned out affair. Who knew?

Speaking in the latest issue of Xbox World 360 Magazine (via CVG), the firm's marketing director, Doug Lombardi, insisted the developer releases its games in a product-oriented manner, despite the way it may seem to the consumer.

"I think it's fair to say that Valve never approaches a product release the same way twice," said Lombardi. "With Half-Life 2 we took six years to create an epic sequel, then we immediately shifted to episodic releases, which were then followed by the release of a new IP (Left 4 Dead) which was given a sequel in less than a year. Now, with Portal 2, we've taken a couple of years to produce a full sequel to a game that was launched in episodic size.

"The point is not that we're schizophrenic, but that we try to productize every game in a way that's best for [it], given market conditions and other factors."

Half-Life 2 was released in 2004, followed by The Orange Box with Team Fortress 2 and Portal in 2007, Left 4 Dead in 2009 and Left 4 Dead 2 in 2010.

Portal 2 will be the next Valve title out, releasing in April.