Portal 2 writer Jay Pinkerton has left Valve

Another longstanding member of Valve's writing team has left the studio, with Portal 2 scribe Jay Pinkerton announcing his departure over on Facebook. 

That means the Team Fortress creator has waved goodbye to four of it's most well-known employees in the past 18 months.

The first to go was Half-Life writer Marc Laidlaw, who stepped away last January to take a break from "the chaos of game production" and focus on his own projects. 

Laidlaw was followed out of the door by fellow wordsmith Erik Wolpaw, who had writing credits on a slew of titles including Half-Life 2: Episode One, Episode Two, Portal, and both Left 4 Dead games. 

Not long after, writer and virtual reality ambassador Chet Faliszek also confirmed his departure, explaining he wanted to "shake things up" after 12 years at the studio. 

Pinkerton, who worked at Valve for almost a decade, didn't offer any indication as to why he left the studio, but the recent number of high-profile departures might suggest there's been a change in the company's creative direction.