80%
Probable
It has been a while since we heard anything about HLX, the project in development by Valve rumored to be Half-Life 3 which is reportedly featuring some rather advanced features. However, the project's development may not have halted at all. The contrary, actually. While Valve itself is taunting Source 2 dataminers using the engine itself, there are indications that development may have ramped up following the Steam Machine's delay, giving the development team more time to polish up the game.
"Codename TF started appearing in the latter half of 2025 around the same time that most were speculating that HLX was wrapping up production and an announcement was ramping up in the near future," said known Valve leaker Tyler McVicker in a recent video going over the lack of updates of the TF project. "But then all of Q4 came and went for 2025 and while it seemed as if every single insider and everyone in the community was feeling as if something major was about to happen absolutely nothing happened. It seems to indicate that something internally changed, plans were rescheduled."
At this point, there's no way to know what caused these changes in the Half-Life 3 HLX reveal and release schedule, but Tyler McVicker speculates it could be related to the launch of the Steam Machine. However, due to how Valve operates, the lack of new developments on the TF project, which may have been shelved momentarily, suggests that development of HLX has actually ramped up, taking advantage of the shifting timelines.
"However, what appears to have happened is that a delay has occurred and now the team has more time. It's my speculation that individuals that were looking to work on other new projects have actually returned to the HLX team and have seen this project through now that they have extra development time," the leaker said.
Since Valve has never acknowledged the development of the HLX project said to be Half-Life 3, there's no official announcement on the matter. However, the company is well aware that people are poking around the Source 2 code whenever a game powered by the engine is updated, and has left a rather funny string in the file, as reported a couple of days ago by Gabe Follower.
As Valve gears up to release the Steam Machine, whose latest benchmarks were posted on Geekbench last week, there's a good chance we may hear more rumblings about HLX very soon. If the system will indeed launch at a price significantly exceeding that of the most expensive Steam Deck OLED variant, announcing the return of the beloved Half-Life series in some form would be a great way to soften the blow for gamers under constant pressure from rising gaming hardware prices.
About the author: Francesco De Meo has been covering video games and technology since 2012, starting his career at small outlets like Gamersyndrome and GeekSnack. After joining Wccftech gaming section in 2015, he quickly expanded his video gaming coverage with in-depth reporting, interviews with iconic industry figures such as Grasshopper Manufacture founder and No More Heroes creator Goichi "Suda51" Suda, Resident Evil series creator Shinji Mikami, Team NINJA's president and Nioh series director Fumihiko Yasuda, and Silent Hill creator Keiichiro Toyama, reviews and on-the-ground coverage of major industry events such as Gamescom and E3. When he's not reporting or reviewing, Francesco can be found playing the genres he loves most, spending time with his six cats, reading, writing music, playing guitar and drumming for his progressive rock band.
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