This is according to Insider Gaming’s Mike Straw, who provided an update on the Insider Gaming Weekly podcast. “People have asked. I have been told a date. I wasn’t going to report that date because they weren’t 100 percent confident in that date. That date has sailed past. So, there’s a reason I didn’t report it.

“Every date from every journalist I’ve spoken with, every creator who follows it and has dug, every single date that they were told has passed.” However, everyone is “still adamant” that Half-Life 3 is a launch title for the Steam Machine, which has yet to receive a release date.

According to Straw, PC RAM prices are the culprit. They’re currently up “200, 300, 500 percent of what they were in October, and it’s only getting worse.”

“The window that I was told was Spring 2026, for the Steam Machine, for the Steam Frame, for the Steam Controller, for Half-Life 3. […] At the end of the day, the game is real. There’s no denying it. It’s just a when and not if at this point. All the signs pointed to it being announced in December. Then everything hit the fan, and I think it was a case of that concern. The Steam Machine was supposed to be Q1, like the end of Q1 2026, but I’m starting to wonder if that hardware’s going to be pushed out.”

And for those who doubt Straw’s sources, especially in light of any new information, he responded that they’re not “run of the mill” individuals who “haven’t gotten me information before.”

“They’re the same sources that have given me details on Madden. A couple of them are the same sources that have given me details on The Lord of the Rings game that is in development, which I reported on. They’re not random, like, one-off people, and they’re still adamant that Half-Life 3 is coming in the Spring.”

Of course, until Valve actually announces it, the long-awaited sequel will remain a pipe dream for many. But given the sheer number of reports and rumors that suddenly dried up after the RAM prices increased, there’s some logic to what Straw is saying. All that’s left to do is wait and see.

On the latest Insider Gaming Weekly podcast, Straw noted that he has a date, but since it could be a trap by Valve to catch leakers, he won’t reveal it. This would explain insider NateTheHate’s reporting several dates circulating, and he’s working on a consensus before committing to anything.

Despite this, Straw believes it will still be revealed this year and not at The Game Awards on December 11th. If it does appear at the latter, then it may be as a follow-up. With very little time left this year, hopes remain alive. Will Valve finally deliver? We’ll have to wait and find out. In the meantime, head here for more details on the Half-Life 3 rumor trail.

In his series of posts, Straw also confirmed that he was still working on getting as much corroborated information as he possibly could about Valve’s rumoured announcement. “We’re all trying to make sure we do this right, and we don’t want to give a date or information that we haven’t been able to verify was at least a plan,” he wrote.

“As I said in the past, I was told it’s not supposed to be there,” he posted in response to a question about whether Half-Life 3 would be unveiled during The Game Awards 2025 in December. “So, unless Geoff managed to get them to agree to something, I still think it’s a stand alone.”

Rumours about Half-Life 3 having been in development, as well as its announcement happening this year have been going around for quite some time. Earlier this week, industry insider NateTheHate had noted that he had also been getting similarly conflicting information about Valve’s plans from his sources. In a series of social media posts, he noted that he was “Working to get consensus on info and extract the truth from it all.” In his posts, he also said that one source indicated that the announcement was going to happen on November 19.

Straw, for his part, has previously indicated that Valve’s announcement was happening “soon enough”. While he didn’t reveal too many details about this, he did say note that people should “Just be ready.”

Earlier this year, Valve insider Tyler McVicker had reported an update to the Source 2 engine that indicated that development on Half-Life 3 – reportedly codenamed HLX – had been continuing to the point where it had reached final stages of development. Code for the game engine seemingly had references to the thumper machines, which were last seen in Half-Life 2 and its episodic sequels that were used to drive away hostile antlions. This reference was assumed to have been a direct message to dataminers.

Similarly, updates to the game engine from last month had indicated that Valve was getting ready to make an announcement soon. These updates focused on bringing in some automation to free up system resources used by the engine. These resources can then be re-used for other parts of running the game. Along with this, the engine’s sound and liquid simulation systems had also gotten upgraded. These features were noted as being unlikely to be used for Dota 2 or Counter-Strike 2. Rather, they were believed to be used for HLX.

While the rumour mill about Half-Life 3 might all sound like a wild goose chase, check out our thoughts on whether or not there is a chance that Valve might actually make an announcement soon.

But – and stay with me here – Half-Life 3 could still be happening.

You might be confused, and that’s understandable given the year thus far. But Half-Life 3, the sequel that Valve never really confirmed it was working on? Half-Life 3, which had rumors galore for the better part of a decade and then faded from existence? Half-Life 3, which many developers apparently tried to create at the studio, but it got shut down every single time.

Yes, that one – or maybe a different iteration than what was in development at Valve at some point. The point is, it’s probably happening for real this time. Hopefully.

This wouldn’t be the first time this year that rumors really started to gain traction, and ironically enough, it was also around Summer Game Fest and before Gamescom. A project internally codenamed HLX had made the rounds, and long-time insider Tyler McVicker claimed it was “playable end-to-end” (and that it was also Half-Life 3). In August, it was allegedly in the final phase of development, and this time, Gabe Follower – who provided details for Deadlock before its announcement – reported that it was in the polishing stage.

And then, for many weeks, as various events passed us by, there was relative silence. Until the end of October, when McVicker re-emerged to report on updates to the Source 2 Engine, and the addition of a new asset group called “Science.”

Things really started to kick into motion after Valve announced its Steam Hardware – namely the Steam Frame, Steam Machine and new Steam Controller. Gabe Follower stated that plans for HLX remained unchanged, and it would still be “aiming for a 2025 announcement.” McVicker would follow up with expectations of a Twitch stream within the next two weeks, which means sometime by November 31st.

At this point, you’re probably wondering if it’s actually happening. If there’s smoke, there’s Black Mesa suffering another interdimensional catastrophe that the military needs to contain, and all that jazz. We’ve seen this song and dance of rumors before. Next, I’ll be telling you about how Bloodborne Remastered is really happening.

But here’s where things take an odd turn. Mike Straw of Insider Gaming said a “big announcement” from Valve would be coming in the next few weeks (and that it’s not at The Game Awards). Tom Henderson, who has a strong track record as an insider, said, “I’ve heard there’s a big game coming out in March that I can’t say just yet. But a lot of people are looking forward to it. We’ll see in the next couple of weeks if we’re gonna talk about it.”

Straw would also say on X that, “It’s happening soon enough. Just be ready.” So why no announcement, even if there’s time to spare? Surely, something on Half-Life’s 27th anniversary would make sense, right? Surely, Gabe N. isn’t laughing at us on his new super-yacht?

That’s where NateTheHate, another reliable insider, comes in. After confirming that he’s heard about HLX/Half-Life 3, he revealed that there are “very mixed things” going on with the timing of the announcement. When asked if it would be on the anniversary or even the following day, he simply responded, “Unsure. One bit of info I was given suggested it would happen at noon today, which has come and gone. I’m not going to share anything until I have a consensus on specifics.” There are apparently a “lot of dates circulating,” and he won’t share more on anything until something, be it a release window or reveal, becomes clearer.

And if that wasn’t enough, Sean Hollister of The Verge reported seeing security guards at Valve’s HQ when invited to check out the Steam Hardware. “I’ve never seen guards during previous Valve trips — and maybe they were only there that day,” he said, before posting a picture of a Steam Machine with a custom front that had a logo with the letter “H” and a censored banner laid on top.

Like a Silksong fan roadmap before it was finally released, we’re currently here. So, is Half-Life 3 happening or not? Officially, no one can really say. Heck, for all we know, Valve could be getting ready to announce an open beta for Deadlock in the coming weeks, if not launching the same by The Game Awards.

And yet, it’s clear there’s something to these rumors. It would be one thing if it were the usual insiders sharing updates, but this time, others who cover the industry as a whole are reporting it as well. No one can ever be correct 100 percent of the time. But, smoke and fire, and whatnot.

Take this from someone who initially dismissed McVicker’s reports, but personally, I think it’s happening. Why? Because of the Steam Machine, and no, not because it will be an exclusive or anything. It’s because the hardware is essentially Valve’s strongest foray yet into the living room PC market. With Microsoft delving more into handheld PCs and a more unified ecosystem for its games, you can bet that Valve is looking to remind everyone what the dominant PC storefront is.

And what better way to do that than to release Half-Life 3, one of the most anticipated games and sequels of all time?

The other reason is that besides showing up the PS5 and Xbox Series X at their own game, in their own market, there truly are no other lands to conquer. Valve has done it all – created some of the most popular free-to-play titles in the world, cemented its legacy with some of the best games ever made, established a storefront that is the default, and even delivered a strong handheld PC while its competitors scrambled.

There are admittedly many other goals left and several other sequels that it could make, but Half-Life is a standout because its story is inherently unfinished. And if it had no intention of providing a follow-up, it likely wouldn’t have gone to lengths to retcon the ending of Half-Life 2: Episode 2 with the events of Half-Life: Alyx.

Yes, this is Valve we’re talking about – even if it isn’t a mainline title, who could have predicted that Half-Life: Alyx would be VR-exclusive? But such circumstances always go both ways. If it wanted to just announce Half-Life 3 as a PC exclusive and launch it several months later, just like it planned with Half-Life 2 (before it got delayed), then marketing cycles be damned – nothing can stop them.

Of course, until it’s actually announced, there’s nothing left to do but wait. Maybe such rumors will fall by the wayside yet again as we’re preoccupied with The Game Awards and its “World Premieres.” Perhaps everything will wind down in time for the holidays, and we’ll forget all the buzz around a possible Half-Life 3 or whatever HLX is supposed to be. And then when you least expect it, there will be an announcement and a release window because that’s just how Valve is.

Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.

NateTheHate, perhaps the most reliable insider this year, recently confirmed hearing about HLX and Half-Life 3. However, he clarified that he’s “Working to get consensus on info and extract the truth from it all.”

That includes potential announcement timing, which has delivered mixed results. “One bit of info I was given suggested it would happen at noon today – which has come and gone. I’m not going to share anything until I have a consensus on specifics.” For now, until there’s some kind of consensus on an alleged reveal or release window, the insider won’t be sharing anything more.

That means it’s up to Valve to step up and reveal something. Granted, even the Steam Frame, Steam Machine and new Steam Controller were leaked before their official announcement on the same day, so it’s not impossible. But given that Half-Life 3 is one of the most anticipated games of all time, it may be a much tighter-wrapped secret.

Insider GabeFollower revealed on Discord that “nothing changed” from their information last year and that they’re “still aiming for a 2025 announcement.” Another long-time insider, Tyler McVicker, said in a recent Twitch stream that he expects an announcement within the next two weeks.

It’s worth noting that November 19th marks the anniversary of Half-Life 1, which debuted in 1998 for PC. An announcement this week, followed by a trailer at The Game Awards in December? Never say never.

Somewhat conspicuously, Mike Straw, who works for Insider Gaming, also tweeted, “It’s happening soon enough. Just be ready.” This could be further hinting at an HLX/Half-Life 3 announcement, though, as some have noted, Valve’s MOBA/hero shooter Deadlock could be released, if not enter open beta.

According to McVicker, past major internal updates to Source 2 have revolved around the addition of new features. The latest one, however, has more to do with bringing in automation to free up system resources that can then be used for other parts of the game. Sound and liquid simulation systems have also seemingly seen an upgrade. It is worth noting that these new features are unlikely to be used for titles like Dota 2 or Counter-Strike 2. Rather, these features are instead believed to be made for HLX. However, owing tot he nature of how Valve updates its game engine, these features can also be found in Counter-Strike 2.

One of the biggest indicators that this Source 2 update have more to do with HLX rather than Counter-Strike 2 is the addition of a new asset group, which has been labelled “Science”. This has sparked quite a bit of discussion in the data mining community for Valve’s projects, and there is a strong possibility that the group name might refer to characters in the rumoured title that also happen to be scientists, like Dr. Kleiner.

While optimisation upgrades like this are often done towards the tail end of a game’s development, Valve isn’t quite known for sticking to strict schedules for its major projects. McVicker, however, believes that we might see an announcement or tease of HLX some time in November. As is the case with any rumour and speculation regarding the subject, however, this is also best taken with a grain of salt.

Interestingly, reports had noted back in August that the development of Half-Life 3 – or HLX – is in its final phases. This came from another update that had been made to Source 2 engine, with a line of code referencing thumper machines. These machines were last seen in Half-Life 2 and its episodic follow-ups, and were used to keep Antlions at bay. While the line of code doesn’t strictly mean that we will see Antlions once more in Half-Life 3, it is instead believed to be a cryptic message left by Valve for data miners to find, and thus indicate that development progress is continuing.

Along with this, the update at the time also indicated that Valve is working on a new style of NPC scripting that would make characters in the rumoured sequel much more reactive to the player. Rumours from back in May have also indicated that Half-Life 3 is playable internally at Valve “end-to-end”.

According to McVicker, one key line of code in the update makes references to the thumper machines that we last saw in Half-Life 2 that can be used to drive away hostile antlions. The line of code is believed to be a direct message to dataminers, and has been taken as a sign that progress on HLX has been continuing at a steady pace.

The report indicates that progress on the project has been so good that the game is seemingly in the final phase of development. Another major update to Source 2 indicates that the game will make use of a new style of NPC scripting. Through this new system, whenever a player gets close to an NPC, rather than offering up canned voice lines or simple gestures, the NPCs will now offer more complex reactions. Datamining has indicated that this new feature being present in the recent update to the engine means that it might be close to finished.

Another leaker, Gabe Follower, has also indicated that Half-Life 3’s development has progressed to the point where it is currently in the polishing stage. According to the leaker, developers at Valve have already started moving on to other projects since the majority of the work on HLX is reportedly finished.

The timetable for these rumours lines up quite well with a report from back in May that indicated that Half-Life 3 was internally playable at Valve “end-to-end”. This means that, at the time, the core development work was completed, and that the studio was busy with other aspects of game development, which tends to include polishing up art assets, and figuring out game balance through vigorous playtesting.

Now, lo and behold, reports are swirling again about a new Half Life game being in development, as they have on no few occasions over the years. And though your first instinct with any claims of that sort would be to instantly dismiss them at this point – hell, you’ve likely even done that with this current crop of reports – this time, this time, it feels like maybe there might be something to the reports. Maybe Valve really does have Half Life’s next big chapter in the works, and maybe, just maybe, we might actually get to see how the story plays out after the events of 2007’s Episode Two.

But let’s pause and look back at recent events- because what ever are these reports of a Half Life 3 claiming specifically? According to prominent Valve insider Tyler McVicker, the company has Half Life 3 in the works, and actually has done for a while. That report comes on the heels of other developments over recent months that have added fuel to the fire, such as claims from an actor last year that Valve was working on a Half Life project under the codename Project White Sands.

As per McVicker, Half Life 3 is in the works as HLX as a full fledged non VR game, and is far enough along in development that it is now at a stage where it is fully playable end to end. As per the insider, though there isn’t full clarity yet on whether the game is content complete, it is mechanics complete- which means that though Valve may still add playable sections to the game that aren’t currently in, the core mechanics that the experience is built on are all ready and usable.

In fact, so advanced is Half Life 3’s production that according to McVicker, the game could even be announced at some point this summer, with a release possibly being targeted for this winter. It should go without saying that, as with anything in the video games industry, there is no date or release window that you can and should take for granted, and there’s every chance that Valve doesn’t actually stick to that timeline for Half Life 3 (especially since nothing has been officially announced yet, so any and all delays would be purely internal at worst). The point, however, is that if McVicker’s claims are indeed true (which isn’t ever guaranteed with a company like Valve, and with a game as perennially elusive as Half Life 3), the project is clearly advanced enough in development that, once way or another, it’s going to be within touching distance sooner rather than later, even if we don’t get an announcement and a release this year, as the plan currently seems to be.

As exciting as it is to consider the prospect of a Half Life 3 finally being released at long long, you obviously also have to talk about the other side of the argument- because you do totally understand the healthy amounts of skepticism surrounding any and all claims that the game is in the works. Even if you were to ignore the fact that Half Life has been dormant for close to two decades barring a VR exclusive title (which was admittedly spectacular and absolutely unmissable for anyone who’s a series fan), or the fact that Valve hasn’t made a numbered sequel past sophomore entries ever, you still have to consider the fact that Valve just isn’t that focused on game development as a company anymore, with Steam (and now Stem Deck) being what it diverts most of its attention to.

And while that is obviously true and has been for quite a long time, it also has been less true in recent years than it had been until not that long ago- because Valve’s output has undeniably increased of late, even if it is nowhere close to what it used to be at one point (though that may honestly be unreasonable to expect, given just how long it takes to make a AAA game these days anyway- but that is an entirely different conversation).

We had Artifact in 2018, which sort of sucked, but was Valve’s first new game release in a long, long time. After that, we had Half Life: Alyx in 2020, a VR exclusive title that was by its very nature not nearly as accessible to a wide audience as you would want a major new Half Life game to be, but was still an absolutely stellar game that anyone with the means and desire to play it (what with its steep price of entry, thanks to the hardware that it is on) should absolutely not miss out on. Much more recently, in 2024, Valve released MOBA third person shooter Deadlock in open playtesting, attracting massive player numbers and widespread praise from many- and that’s a game that’s officially not even out yet, so it will hopefully only continue to get better in the time to come.

Around the time that Half Life: Alyx was about to come out, Valve talked about how the VR shooter wasn’t going to be a one off, that it actually represented Valve’s return to the world of Half Life. The suggestion very much was that there were more Half Life stories in the pipeline that the company intended to work on- and if rumurs are to be believed, it seems like that work has progressed quite well behind the scenes. Valve never released official numbers for how well Half Life: Alyx did, but seemingly, the game performed well enough that the company decided to move ahead plans with a full fledged non VR sequel.

Or that is what we’re hoping for, at least. Let’s not forget that this is still Valve, and that this is still the fabled Half Life 3 in question- which means that if tomorrow we were to get word that the project is dead and may never even have been alive in the first place, though we would definitely be disappointed, we maybe wouldn’t be terribly surprised. After so long, it’s difficult to believe that we could conceivably reading “Half Life 3 confirmed” headlines at some point in the not-too-distant future that aren’t being ironic in the slightest. Hopefully, however, that is exactly what we’re headed for- the rumours definitely do seem to be gathering momentum, so we’re keeping our fingers crossed with ever-so-cautious optimism.

Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.

In fact, Valve insider Tyler McVicker has claimed that Half-Life 3 is so far along in development that it is “playable end-to-end.” In a recently uploaded video (via VGC), the leaker claimed that the next instalment in Valve’s legendary franchise is developed under the codename HLX and unlike 2020’s Half-Life: Alyx, isn’t going to be a virtual reality game. 

McVicker claims the game is currently being playtested “religiously and widely” and that, due to the extensive leaks that the aforementioned Alyx saw during development, Valve is currently keeping a much tighter lid on Half-Life 3. The game is reportedly “optimized” and “polished,” with the project being at a content-locked stage – or, at the very least, mechanic-locked. 

The leaker guesses that Half-Life 3 could be announced this Summer and released in the Winter, though stresses that that much is purely speculation. Stay tuned for more updates in the coming weeks and months.