I don't buy the excuse about it as a "small company". How big was it again working on HL1 and HL2? Portal 2? The list goes on. Let's be honest with ourselves:

I don't buy the excuse about it as a "small company". How big was it again working on HL1 and HL2? Portal 2? The list goes on. Let's be honest with ourselves: they got bored with it, made more money doing something else, and by the time anyone looked back were heavily intimidated by the expectations on them that doing a sequel to the beloved games was too scary. No matter what they put out, there will be a non-trivial portion of the fan base rabidly upset with it. The "flat structure" means unless someone is willing to have the guts to push hard enough, there will never be consensus on what is likely regarded as a radioactive topic.