Speaking to Eurogamer at E3, Lombardi said: "Aftermath will be coming out at retail, but we're finalising our publishing partner." Valve recently parted ways with Half-Life 2 publisher Vivendi-Universal Games, who will cease distribution of the company's products at the end of August. Asked when the developer's new publishing partner was likely to be revealed, Lombardi said it would be "soon, in the summer". He also added that the current release date estimate for Aftermath is "September".