Following up on recent comments regarding Half-Life 2: Episode Three, Shacknews caught up with Valve marketing VP Doug Lombardi to briefly discuss the anticipated sequel.

What's the deal with the longer development period this time around? And is Freeman going back to the future? Read on to find out.

Warning: Episode Two spoilers after the break.

Shack: There have been a few recent interviews quoting you about the development period between Half-Life 2: Episode Two and Three.

Doug Lombardi: What I was saying before was that we weren't going to make any announcements until Left 4 Dead ships as to what's next.

We're definitely not done with Freeman yet, and I think the quote that set the internet a little bit crazy the other day was that, I was mentioning that the gap between the releases will be longer. Obviously, they almost already have been.... Read more

Bad news, Freeman fans. It looks like Half-Life 2: Episode Three won't arrive for a while--possibly 2010--going by an interview with Valve marketing VP Doug Lombardi.

"The next time you play as Gordon will be longer than the distance between Half-Life 2 to Episode One, and Episode One to Episode Two," Lombardi told Kikizo when asked about Episode Three.

For reference, Half-Life 2 arrived in November 2004, with Episode One arriving nearly two years later in June 2006 and Episode Two following in October 2007.

However, the marketing VP offered one slight consolation, noting that the company "may [announce or show something] at the very end of the year."

Currently, Valve is putting the finishing touches on its cooperative zombie-killing shooter, Left 4 Dead, due November 18, with the studio continuing to work on updates for its class-based multiplayer shooter, Team Fortress 2.

Thanks to marmite for the heads up.

The first widely available piece of concept art for the final episode of Valve's Half-Life 2 saga has been uncovered via the 2008 IntoThePixel E3 art gallery.

The piece--created by Valve artists Ted Backman, Jeremy Bennett, and Tristan Redford--appears to show Half-Life hero Gordon Freeman within a large Citadel-like environment, a Combine Advisor looming ominously overhead.

IntoThePixel's website labels the art as related to "Half Life EP3," with platforms listed as PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

Valve has been mum about the final episode in the trilogy since the release of Episode Two last year. Episode Three will reportedly not be appearing at E3, though Valve will be making an appearance at the event to show off its zombie shooter Left 4 Dead.

Thanks to pixel34 for the tip.