What’s your vision for Half-Life 3? It’s been 20 years since the last full game in Valve’s generational FPS series, and we’ve all had plenty of time to imagine what the sequential return of Gordon Freeman, Alyx Vance, and the G-Man might look like. Presumably, Half-Life 3 will pick up where Episode Two (and, latterly, Half-Life Alyx) left off, and cast us into the quest to find the missing Borealis. But who knows? With Deadlock on the way and Counter-Strike 2 still pulling in players by the millions, Valve seems to have its hands full. On the contrary, a mysterious new listing on the developer’s own Steam page, in combination with some other recent teases, suggests Half-Life 3 might actually, maybe, possibly be real.
So, you’ve probably tried Deadlock and you’re aware that, although it’s playable, it’s still in testing and hasn’t yet reached its full, official launch. Naturally, when you go to Valve’s Steam developer page and click on ‘upcoming games,’ Deadlock is on the list. But weirdly, it’s not on its own – not entirely. Although Deadlock is the only game to appear in the drop down, if you check the sidebar, next to ‘upcoming games’ is the number ‘2,’ implying that Valve has a second – albeit unlisted – game in the works. Is this Half-Life 3, or at least something connected to the return of the FPS game?
A quick look on the Wayback Machine reveals that Valve’s listing for Steam gift cards previously appeared in the ‘upcoming’ section. That may seem like mystery solved, but the gift card listing replaces Deadlock rather than accompanies it, and if you go back to the developer page as it looks today, there are two items listed under the ‘games’ section, one being Deadlock, one being unknown.
Also curious, on the same developer page, when you check Valve’s upcoming releases, only one is marked as ‘multiplayer.’ That’s Deadlock. So, if there are two upcoming games, and one is multiplayer, that leaves one another. Maybe it’s a single-player game. And hey, Half-Life is a single-player game!
And there’s one more piece to the puzzle. Back in 2021, Persona creator Atlus updated its own Steam publisher profile with a hidden, upcoming game. Not long after, Persona 4 was announced. Is the same thing about to happen with Valve and Half-Life 3? Recent rumors have swirled that the game is already in deep development and that playtests are underway. Reddit user ‘Relevant_Basis5444’ spotted the discrepancy in Valve’s Steam page, and the Half-Life community has been sleuthing it out since then. So, maybe it will be this is the year. Prepare for unforeseen consequences.
In the meantime, relive the Half-Life era with the best old games, or maybe try the best zombie games, to capture that headcrab-killing spirit.
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