Valve President and cofounder Gabe Newell, at a media roundtable held in the company's headquarters last week, further doused any remaining hope among gamers that Half-Life 3 is still happening.
Rumors that Half-Life 3 is in development and will soon be released have continuously popped up, to the point that the phrase "Half-Life 3 confirmed" has been transformed in to a meme. However, according to Newell, these rumors are likely being started by employees of Valve themselves to troll still hopeful gamers.
New Half-Life 3 Image Allegedly Leaked
Newell, along with Valve communications specialist Greg Coomer, confirmed that some of the company's employees have enjoyed perpetuating hoaxes regarding Half-Life 3 every now and then.
For example, a new image showing a woman hooked up to an HTC Vive recently whipped up the gaming community into a frenzy. This is because the Windows 10 PC that the VR headset is connected to had the familiar lambda symbol of the Half-Life franchise as one of the icons on its desktop.
The icon, though small and blurry, can be made out to be named VR3 or W3, and the number on the icon seems to be the number 3. Half-Life 3 confirmed? Apparently not.
"It's news to us that the picture is out, but it's also news that this icon is on the screen," Coomer said to reporters at the media roundtable, adding that icons such as the supposed Half-Life 3 one in the allegedly leaked image have been floating around the company office for a while.
"None of us are going to be able to tell you what that is or why that's there," Coomer said.
Newell, in addition to Coomer's explanation, revealed that some of Valve's more "childish" employees have actually worn t-shirts bearing text of Half-Life 3 in a previous Game Developers Conference, hinting that the supposed Half-Life 3 icon is another way for Valve employees to troll the gaming community.
Half-Life 3 Rumors Will Likely Continue
As Newell and Coomer revealed the trolling ways of Valve employees in tricking gamers that Half-Life 3 is still happening, rumors regarding the game will likely continue due to the massive demand for it.
Some gamers might be upset at the fact that Valve employees themselves are releasing hoaxes for Half-Life 3, but others might take them in good humor, especially those who already accepted that Half-Life 3 will never happen.
A Valve insider revealed last month that "there is no such thing as Half-Life 3," as he explained Valve's approach in harnessing the creativity of its employees. Developers have wheeled desks that allow them to jump from project to project, and while there may have been instances when there was a developer or a group of developers working on what they think could be Half-Life 3, no project ever reached the point that it was tagged as definitely becoming Half-Life 3.
Newell, who also recently explained why Valve is currently not interested in making games for consoles, revealed that the company has three full-fledged virtual reality games in development. Hopeful gamers, especially in connection with the alleged Half-Life 3 image with the HTC Vive, want to believe that the famed game will be one of them, but at this point, it might be better to just let go of any hope for Half-Life 3.
