Valve might be in the closing stages of development on Half-Life 3, as speculation continues to snowball around its existence.
Half-Life 3 rumours have been a constant part of everyday life since 2007’s Half-Life 2: Episode Two, but they’ve definitely increased over the last 12 months.
In 2024, dataminers discovered several files in other Valve games, like Deadlock and Dota 2, for a project codenamed HLX. Several insiders have claimed this is actually Half-Life 3, although Valve has not officially announced any new project.
One of these insiders, YouTuber Tyler McVicker, now claims the rumoured Half-Life 3 is ‘playable end-to-end’ and is in the ‘polishing’ phase at Valve.
McVicker, who has been leaking news about Valve titles for years now, answered various questions about HLX in a livestreamed Q&A, where he reiterated his claims that, unlike 2020’S Half-Life: Alyx, Half Life 3 ‘is not a VR title’.
‘HLX is being playtested so religiously and so widely that there are individuals that will just talk,’ McVicker said.
‘I personally have a policy of avoiding any story-related questions or information where possible, so I currently have avoided all of them. But I’ve been offered it by people whom are trustworthy and I know some of my contemporaries have been given it, so there is information out there about the plot.’
He added: ‘This is the furthest [HLX] has ever been. Period. The game is playable end-to-end. Period. [Other Half-Life 3 projects have] never been that far. And they’re optimising, polishing, and they’re probably content-locked, or if they’re not then they’re mechanic locked.’
McVicker went on to suggest Half-Life 3 could be announced during the summer and released later this year, but stresses this is entirely speculation on his part.
Valve has cancelled multiple iterations of Half-Life 3 over the past 18 years, and while these more recent rumours suggest a new Half-Life project does exist, there’s nothing to guarantee it won’t be canned before release as well.
Last year, McVicker claimed two Half-Life projects were in development at Valve, with one being the aforementioned HLX. The other is said to be a VR title designed to showcase the company’s rumoured new Deckard VR headset, which is tipped to launch this year.
Back in 2020, Valve stated Half-Life: Alyx was a ‘return to this world, not the end of it’, so it’s certainly possible we could see another Half-Life entry soon – even if it’s unclear exactly what form it will take.
Like Nintendo and Rockstar Games, Valve is difficult to predict but, if we’re feeling optimistic, it’s possible we could see some sort of announcement during Summer Game Fest on June 6.
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