80%
Probable
Valve fans had a field day with the announcements of the Steam Frame, Steam Machine, and Steam Controller, with the notable exception of those who have been pining for Half-Life 3.
The near-mythological third (and supposedly final) installment in the sci-fi first-person shooter franchise was still nowhere to be mentioned by Valve, but that doesn't mean it's not coming. In fact, several insiders have doubled down to reiterate that a dedicated game announcement is on its way in relatively short order.
What they do not quite agree on is the timing of the news. According to Gabe Follower, a Counter-Strike 2 content creator who correctly leaked information on Deadlock (the studio's next third-person multiplayer shooter/MOBA game in early development), Half-Life 3, codenamed HLX, will still be announced before the end of the year. Another Valve insider, Tyler McVicker, who leaked some Half-Life: Alyx details, maintained in a Twitch stream that he expects the news to drop within the next two to three weeks.
On the latest episode of Insider Gaming Weekly, though, the resident insiders shared a different opinion based on their own sources. Mike Straw, who previously mentioned the hardware announcements weren't all Valve had to unveil, said this particular news will not be made official during Geoff Keighley's The Game Awards 2025 event next month.
Insider Gaming founder and renowned leaker Tom Henderson added that he heard there's a big (currently unannounced) game coming in March. With the Steam Machine/Frame/Controller scheduled to launch in early 2026, it makes sense that Half-Life 3 would be a launch title, especially for the new Steam Machine.
After all, Valve publicly stated that it believes having more games will be key to the success of the Steam Machine compared to its previous iteration. While they were mainly referring to the massive Steam library, new launches of gaming platforms have benefited from having the so-called killer application since time immemorial in this industry. If Half-Life 3 were only available on Steam platforms, it'd mean the only console-like platform able to play it would be the Steam Machine, thus undoubtedly boosting its initial sales.
Do you believe we are finally about to finish Gordon Freeman's story? Vote in the poll and leave a comment below.
About the author: With over two decades of experience in gaming journalism, Alessio Palumbo has led the gaming vertical at Wccftech since August 2015. He started working at a young age for Italian websites like Everyeye.it, Gamestar.it, Nextgame.it, and Multiplayer.it before kickstarting the indie English-language publication Worlds Factory as its founder and Editor in Chief. In the last decade, he has coordinated the overall output of Wccftech's gaming section, managed PR relations, assigned reviews, produced daily news coverage, edited gaming content as needed, and delivered game reviews. Arguably, his trademark content is the long series of exclusive developer interviews that have been cited by Wikipedia and by the biggest news media and gaming publications. His passion for technology also makes him knowledgeable when it comes to gaming hardware and tech. His favorite genres include RPGs, MMORPGs, and action/adventure games.
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