In an interview with Game Informer, an alleged Valve insider revealed that the long-awaited Half-Life 3, along with Half-Life 2: Episode Three, have been started and trashed several times, with the games likely to never be released.
The insider, which Game Informer claims is trustworthy despite the fact that the information acquired could not be verified with another employee of Valve, said that "there is no such thing as Half-Life 3."
A Glimpse Into How Valve Works
Game Informer's source described Valve's approach to employee creativity, as developers are allowed to just try things, whether engaging in talks with others for a project or working on a concept by themselves. This is the process that resulted in three different versions of Half-Life 2 before the final version received approval.
The desks of developers at Valve are known to be wheeled, which means that they can simply unplug their computers from outlets and transfer their workstation to work on a project with other developers or to work solo. As to the decision on what the developers should be doing, they are said to be already invited to all ongoing projects, and it is up to developers to join the team working on the project and insert themselves into where they think they should be.
Why Half-Life 3 Will Never Happen
The source said that over the years, perhaps as early as 2005, there were several projects that developers think could be Half-Life 3 or Half-Life 2: Episode Three. Some projects had as few as two to three people involved, while others had up to 40 people on the project. However, none of these projects have so far materialized to the point that they were indeed Half-Life 3.
"I don't think there will be any more," the source said when asked if Valve could one day release the long-awaited Half-Life 3, or at the very least finish Half-Life 2. The source did add that there is a chance that people within Valve might come together and draw up an exciting concept for the next Half-Life game, but it will be hard for such a thing to happen now due to the many scrapped Half-Life 3 projects.
The suggestion of handing over the development of Half-Life 3 to a third party was given, but the source said that such a move will not be a good idea, as the game will not have the same soul if it was not Valve that created it.
"All we know is we love what we had before, but everyone has a different idea of what Half-Life 3 should be. The best thing they could do is give up on Half-Life 3, avoid it entirely, and do Half-Life experiences instead. Experiences that connect, but aren't the flagship sequel," the source said.
Valve Busy With Other Projects
Valve has been focused on other projects, such as on its Steam platform and the money-making DOTA 2. For gamers who are still holding on to hope that Half-Life 3 will be released in the future, it might be time to give up that dream.
There is a possibility that Half-Life will be coming to the big screen, though, which might be good news or more bad news, depending on who you ask.
