Half-Life 3 Rumor Suggests It’s Much Closer to Release Than You Think

Half-Life 3 may be much closer to releasing than we had previously thought. Half-Life 3 is gaming’s white whale. While there are arguably more anticipated games like Grand Theft Auto VI, Half-Life 3 is a game that has been desired for much longer and was actually going to happen at different points. Half-Life is known for its incredibly innovative and sophisticated gameplay with detailed physics systems where just about anything can be used as a weapon. Valve is one of the best developers because of things like this, but they also just don’t really make big new games very often now.

Half-Life: Alyx was a big return for Valve, though it was through the lens of VR. However, it wasn’t just some tech demo, it’s quite possibly the best VR game out there thanks to its depth and it also perfectly sets the stage for Half-Life 3 with its ending. It was assumed that Valve wouldn’t dare do something like that if it wasn’t planning on following through on its promise, but five years later and Valve hasn’t uttered a peep. Nevertheless, prominent rumors persist that Half-Life 3 is happening and it has been in the works for a while. The game is reportedly codenamed HLX and many have spotted references to it while datamining other Valve games. Many have clung on to this recurring codename in various files as signs of life for Half-Life 3, particularly given the game has been canceled a number of times.

Half-Life 3 Is Closer Than Ever to Happening, Claims New Report

With all of that said, Half-Life 3 is reportedly very far along in development and it seems like it may actually see the finish line this time. According to longtime Valve insider and YouTuber Tyler McVicker, Half-Life 3 is playable from start to finish at Valve, suggesting it has a complete story. Of course, that doesn’t mean the game is done, but it does mean that a lot of the hard work has been done. The story is in place, the levels are in a good enough state to be played through, and McVicker notes that the game is being “religiously” playtested on a wide level. It’s believed to be mostly content-locked and is being polished and optimized for its eventual release. He also claims that this is the furthest Half-Life 3 has ever gotten in development across its many iterations.

McVicker even estimated that Half-Life 3 is so close that it could release later this year with a summer announcement, though that was based on his own personal guess. The insider neglected to share information about the plot, but did say he believes Portal protagonist Chell could show up in the game. It’s believed that Portal and Half-Life take place in the same universe, with Portal 2 even having a very significant Easter egg that revolved around a now canceled version of Half-Life 3. McVicker said that the original version of Half-Life 3 would’ve featured a younger version of Chell that would’ve taken place before Portal and explained how she ended up in Aperture’s experiments. Chell appearing in Half-Life would result in a far more direct crossover, but it’s unclear exactly what kind of role she could have in the Gordon’s story.

McVicker also made it clear that Half-Life 3 is not a VR game, something that was speculated following the success of Alyx. It will be a traditional release, which should excite fans who feared they would have to get a headset and a beefy PC to run it. Nevertheless, it sounds like Half-Life 3 may finally be happening. Of course, I urge you to still take these things with a grain of salt. It has been nearly 20 years since we started to expect Half-Life 3 as a possibility and although all signs point to us being closer than ever, this could all fall apart at any second given the way Valve works.

Do you still want to see Half-Life 3 happen? Let me know in the comments.