Half-Life 3 remains one of the gaming world’s biggest mysteries. Everyone knows, Valve included, that there is a deep desire to see another entry in the FPS series, even after all this time. Datamines and rumors come and go about whether Valve is actively working on HL3 right now, and there are plenty of theories about the supposed attempts it’s made over the years. Well, here’s the latest hit of Half-Life 3 hopium, but as always, be sure to take it with a grain of salt. A concept artist who’s currently working with Valve has discussed his experience with the company in a new podcast, and claims he’s been inside “the room where they made Half-Life 3.”
Evgeniy Evstratiy, according to his LinkedIn bio, is a very well-established concept artist that’s worked with the likes of Riot Games, Manticore Games, and most-recently, Valve. A flick through his social media and his Art Station page shows plenty of fantasy and sci-fi character art – some of which you could perceive as being a bit Half-Life 3-ish. However, it’s Deadlock that Evstratiy appears to be working on with Valve, not a Half-Life project. Nevertheless, during an interview with him on the Russian-speaking CG Voices Podcast, he suggests that the long-awaited FPS game sequel could be in the works.
“I don’t know if I’m allowed to say this or not,” Evstratiy says, according to an English translation provided by leaker ‘Stannis_Loyalist’ on the Half Life subreddit, “but I was in the room where they made Half-Life 3. However, I didn’t see the actual development itself; I just saw the office, the computers, the whiteboards.”
Later, he adds: “As I understood it, making Half-Life 3 isn’t their first attempt. Therefore, the fact that they are doing it now is not a guarantee that they will actually make [or] release it.”
It’s unclear exactly when Evstratiy was at Valve HQ, but according to his LinkedIn profile, he’s worked with the company since February 2023, so it could be any point within the last two and a bit years.
As the concept artist himself mentions, seeing what he believes to be Half-Life 3 evidence doesn’t guarantee that it’s in active development and that it’ll ever see the light of day.
However, datamined references to ‘HLX’ – thought to be the codename of a new Half-Life game – keep cropping up in the code of other Valve games, most recently in Deadlock. So there is real hope that something is being worked on right now, and that the long wait for Half-Life 3 may one day be over.
For now, check out some of the best old games like Half-Life 1 and 2 that we’d still happily play today. Alternatively, our upcoming PC games list is full of actually confirmed projects that’ll be dropping in the near future.
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