Is Half-Life 3 finally on the horizon? For years, fans have been desperately hoping for a sequel, and now, a potential announcement date has emerged, sparking excitement across the gaming community.
The anticipation for Half-Life 3 has been building for a long time. While there’s been no official confirmation, there’s a strong belief that Valve is working on a major new Half-Life project. This speculation is fueled by various pieces of evidence, including datamined assets and a leak from an actor potentially involved in the project. Furthermore, reports suggest that this new Half-Life project, codenamed HLX, is not only in development but is now ‘playable, end-to-end’.
A keen-eyed Redditor, sameseksure, believes they’ve cracked the code to when an announcement might be coming, simply by analyzing the Steam store’s top banner. The user’s logic is straightforward: Valve uses this prominent space to promote Steam Sales, events, and new products like games or hardware. The top banner provides a HUGE amount of exposure. As an example, Half-Life: Alyx was featured on the front page banner immediately after its announcement in 2019, as was the Valve Index when it was announced. Steam Sales and Events also dominate this space for their entire duration.
So, what’s the big reveal? According to sameseksure’s analysis, the date to watch is November 18th. The Redditor noticed a significant gap in the Steam event schedule between November 18th and December 8th. The user’s reasoning is that Valve would avoid announcing anything during major Steam events to prevent cannibalizing their own sales.
But here’s where it gets controversial… This theory is further supported by the fact that Steam moved its Autumn Sale forward by two months to September, even though it usually happens in November. In the Autumn Sale announcement, Steam teased: “’Is Steam crazy? They’re two months ahead of schedule!’ Yes, we are crazy, and yes we are earlier than usual, but also that’s intentional”.
The Redditor concludes that if an announcement is coming in November, it’s likely to be around the 18th, 19th, or 20th. Or never.
This theory has gained significant traction, with thousands of upvotes from fans eager for any sign of Half-Life 3. It also aligns with Valve insider Tyler McVicker’s claim that the eagerly anticipated sequel could release before the end of 2025.
And this is the part most people miss… It’s worth remembering that Half-Life 3 was in development around 2013/2014 and was originally planned to be a procedurally generated, replayable game that blended Left 4 Dead-inspired gameplay with scripted story moments. However, it was ultimately canceled because it was built on the unfinished Source 2 engine.
What do you think? Do you believe the November 18th announcement theory holds water? Are you hopeful for a Half-Life 3 reveal? Share your thoughts in the comments below!