Fans of The Stanley Parable are still debating the merits of its meta storytelling a decade on from its initial release, with the game's most hidden and mysterious ending still confusing players to this day. For the uninitiated, The Stanley Parable is a first-person narrative adventure that's all about first-person narrative adventures. It examines the role of the player in video games from all angles, offering scenarios that can elicit anything from laughter to genuine pathos depending on which doors the player walks through and the "decisions" they make. All this while an omnipresent narrator swaps between performing his job pointing the main character in the right direction and expressing bewilderment at the player wandering around, wasting his time, and breaking the "rules" of the core experience.
The game, which originated as a Half-Life 2 mod before becoming its own executable, is the work of two designers in collaboration. Davey Wreden went on to create The Beginner's Guide, a similar narrative game with a much more serious tone. William Pugh went on to found Crows Crows Crows, a team that seemingly springs from the more off the wall aspects of the game. They've worked with Rick and Morty creator Justin Roiland on several projects, including the PSVR game Accounting. Both creators are currently working on a rerelease of The Stanley Parable with new content that will come out on consoles as well as PC.
However, even with a new version on the horizon, players who discover The Stanley Parable want answers for the game's many mysteries. One recent Reddit post by user Crash1024 brought up the mystery of what's known as the Escape Pod Ending. In this part of the game, players can wedge their way through a certain closing door and backtrack to an area that's seemingly meant to serve as an alternate way to escape the office facility that houses the entire adventure. However, the ending never loads, resetting things to the beginning just like every other playthrough players can discover. The post posits that there is more to solve in the game and tries to rile the community into poking at the game years after its launch.
In the comments, user Septillia responds to this query by positing that there is no further mystery to solve. The lack of a payoff fits in with the story of The Stanley Parable, which is often about how choices in video games serve to make players feel unearned accomplishment. While it's entirely possible that The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe will "finish" this ending, it's just as likely that the Escape Pod ending is just another way for the game to express how fruitless it is for players to explore the boundaries of every virtual world they load into.
There are few games like The Stanley Parable, likely because the game seems to be a statement that stands in opposition to the entire medium. While there is amazing writing and glorious spectacle to be had while playing as Employee 427, it's rare to find an ending that's satisfying in a traditional sense. The fact that the game saw such success upon its initial release likely speaks to the smaller size of the market at the time, but the world is a better place for it. One hopes that the 2021 rerelease will spark the same interest and discussion among a whole new group of curious first-time players.
The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe will be available for PC and consoles in 2021.