Could Valve actually release Portal 2 ahead of schedule, forcing us to rethink the properties of the universal constant known as Valve Time? Because the developer of Bit.Trip Beat, one of the title participating in Valve's Potato Sack Pack offer and its associated alternate reality game, are hinting at that very thing.
Gaijin Games just updated Bit.Trip Beat via Steam with an all-new level "designed" by Portal antagonist GLaDOS, which you can see in action in the video above. Gaijin also sent the following message alongside that update:
Like the other 12 games in Valve's Potato Sack, it is rumored that playing BIT.TRIP BEAT between now and Portal 2's "scheduled" release date might increase the chances that Portal 2 is released early. Interesting idea...
That Portal 2 might arrive earlier than its officially announced April 19 release date was a theory first posed by the many gamers taking part in Valve's Potato Fool's Day ARG. The theory originated after a message hidden within a photo of a bathysphere was decoded into two parts.
i released 'kick it' ahead of schedule. that was a test. my goal is to emancipate something else early. but they're on to me. the system is on lockdown. i still have access to thirteen off-site chambers and am installing a test in each one. i am going to need a lot more test subjects to move forward. waiting and am expecting immediate compliance.
And this, with the time of Portal 2's presumed unlock time via Steam included:
4/19/2011_7AM=4/15/2011_9AM
Could the Potato Fool's Day ARG bear fruit in the form of early access to Portal 2 as soon as this Friday, April 15? Will only those who purchased the Potato Sack Pack bundle receive such access? Some Steam users are already reporting the pre-installation of the game, but we'll have to wait for a few more clues (or Friday morning) to come around before we know for sure...