Report: Half-Life 3 May Never Release
By Dalton Cooper 09 January 2017
An anonymous insider source at Valve discusses the elusive Half-Life 3, indicating that the game has never been far in development, and likely won’t ever release.
It’s been a decade since Half-Life 2: Episode Two‘s cliffhanger, and while there have been rumors over the years, there’s no concrete evidence that Half-Life 2: Episode Three or Half-Life 3 even exist. Despite the lack of communication from Valve, many fans have kept their fingers crossed that Gordon Freeman’s adventures will continue, but those fans may want to keep their expectations in check, if a new report is to be believed.
Game Informer’s Andrew Reiner has published an interview he conducted with an insider source at Valve revealing as much. Reiner was unable to corroborate the information his source gave him, but if we take the information at face value, it paints a dire picture of Half-Life 3. Apparently, development has started and stalled on a potential Half-Life 3 numerous times over the years, but no projects have made it far, and at this point, it’s unlikely that a third game in the franchise will ever see the light of day.
“There is no such thing as Half-Life 3. Valve has never announced a Half-Life 3.”
Those disheartening words come straight from the insider source, who is clearly pessimistic about the prospect of Half-Life 3, and is uncertain if a new Half-Life project will ever be started again. In the interview, the insider source indicates that Gabe Newell and the other higher-ups at Valve simply haven’t been interested in any of the potential Half-Life 3 projects that have been in development, with no sign that they will have a change of heart any time soon.
Some of the Half-Life 3 projects described by the insider source sound rather strange. At one point, a real-time strategy (RTS) take on Half-Life 3 was in the pipeline, and another project sought to blend live-action footage with gameplay to make it a “choice-driven game.” And with Valve’s recent work with virtual reality, it seems likely that the Half-Life 3 virtual reality game that was rumored last year may have been one of these projects as well. Of course, other versions of Half-Life 3 were more traditional in nature, such as a single-player FPS game that picked up right where the events of Half-Life 2: Episode Two left off.
Some of the ideas presented by the insider source represent drastic departures from what fans expect from a Half-Life game. However, at this point, they may welcome any chance to see the story conclude, even if it doesn’t come in the form of a traditional first-person shooter.
Unfortunately, with Half-Life creator and series writer Marc Laidlaw retired from Valve and the company more interested in VR hardware and Steam, Half-Life 3 may never see the light of day. As the years come and go, fans can expect reports of the game resuming development to pop up every once in awhile, but if Andrew Reiner’s inside source is to be believed, it would be wise to not get one’s hopes up about ever playing the game.
Half-Life 3 is not in development.
