Rumors of Half-Life 3 have persisted for years. For nearly two decades, fans have been clinging to every rumor that has popped up. And while there's been no shortage of leaks, Valve has not officially announced it. That could change this year.
Prominent Valve insider Tyler McVicker recently claimed on his Q&A livestream that Half-Life 3 is not only in development, but it's actually playable from beginning to end. Given the game's status, he speculates that it could be officially announced this summer, followed by a release in before the end of 2025, probably this winter.
The livestream was packed with nuggets of information for Half-Life 3, including confirmation that it's not a virtual reality game.
"The game is not VR," McVicker stated. "Half Life 3 is not a VR title."
Half-Life 3, which is internally codenamed "HLX," is supposedly undergoing extensive testing and optimization right now. "This is the furthest (HLX) has ever been. Period," he claimed. "The game is playable - end to end. Period. [Other HL3/Ep3 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."
McVicker also addressed the procedural generation system, which he claims has been "misunderstood" by the general public.
"The way Valve is going about that is akin to taking the [AI] Director from Left4Dead 2 and making it significantly more powerful," he explained. "It's not changing geometry. It's instead changing entity placement, right [... like] doors, physics props, enemies, items. NPCs of any kind."
Datamined information suggests Half-Life 3 could adopt a more open-ended structure, giving players greater freedom in exploration and decision-making. However, McVicker disputes claims that the story will also be procedurally generated.
Both Half-Life and its sequel have been widely acclaimed for their innovation and impact on the first-person shooter genre. The original Half-Life was released in 1998 with critics praising its world-building and seamless integration of narrative and gameplay, removing cutscenes in favor of continuous first-person storytelling.
Its sequel, Half-Life 2, was released in 2004. It introduced advanced physics, enhancing both gameplay and immersion.
Both games were lauded by critics and fans alike. They sit with a Metacritic score of 96/100.
With how long its been since Half-Life 2 and with how much the gaming industry has changed since 2004, Valve faces an uphill battle when it comes to delivering a truly groundbreaking experience these days. Valve's use of procedural generation for Half-Life 3 sounds interesting in theory, but we won't truly know how revolutionary it is until we learn actual details and see gameplay. Hopefully, that will be this summer.