Valve, a studio well-known for its aversion to making part three of its games, might finally be breaking the pattern, according to recent leaks suggesting that Half-Life 3, the eagerly anticipated sequel to its classic shooter franchise, is not only in development but also in a completely playable state.
These leaks come from Valve insider Tyler McVicker, who hosted a live-stream Ask Me Anything (AMA) session regarding the unannounced Half-Life sequel, codenamed HLX, which he previously uncovered via datamining and further evidence from the resume of Natasha Chandel, a voice actor who was supposedly working on the project.
In his AMA session, McVicker claims that the upcoming game will not be a VR title like 2020’s Half-Life: Alyx, but a full-fledged sequel. “This is the furthest (HLX) has ever been. Period,” he said, “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, and if they’re not, then they’re mechanic locked.”
As for specific details of the game, McVicker avoided potentially spoiling the game, but did give some information regarding previous rumours that the game would use a procedural generation system. “The way that Valve is going about doing that is akin to the [AI Director] in Left 4 Dead 2 and making it significantly more powerful. It’s not changing geometry. It’s instead changing entity placement [like] doors, physics props, enemies, items or NPCs of any kind.” He also added that he doesn’t think this procedural generation technology will extend to the game’s story.
Finally, McVicker guessed that Half-Life 3 would be announced in the Summer of this year, followed by a Winter release, but as with all game leaks, especially for ones regarding major franchises like Half-Life, these rumours should be taken with a grain of salt, and fans should refrain from getting their hopes up until official confirmation comes from Valve itself.
Kevin is a reformed PC Master Race gamer with a penchant for franchise “duds” like Darksiders III and Dead Space 3. He has made it his life-long mission to play every single major game release – lest his wallet dies trying.
Joey Leong
