Fans have noticed an influx of developers at Valve and suggestions that a new game in the Half-Life series could be released in Valve's 'Family&Friends' playtest group.
Less than a month ago, rumors swirled about the possibility of Half-Life 3 being shown at the Game Awards but, as with Bloodborne and the second trailer for GTA 6, it fell through.
Still, fans have waited long enough and YouTuber Gabe Follower (named after developer Valve's boss, Gaben Newell) has been digging into new information about the mysterious HLX project. The title, supposedly a codename for Half-Life 3, has seen a host of developers come to Valve, with many returning after years of absence.
Those developers have experience with Half-Life, Portal, and Left 4 Dead, and new datamined code suggests that HLX will have some sort of gravity-shifting mechanics and more. Still, the most exciting thing is that a rumor suggests that people could already be playing.
Are testers already playing Half-Life 3?
Gabe Follower's video shows a lot of interesting data, but without a doubt the most important is that, according to his sources, Valve has been testing HLX “not only with people from other teams, but also with friends and family.”
That sounds a bit like your pal on the playground telling you that his uncle works for Nintendo back in the day, but with Valve he has some water.
The studio has a history of playtesting “Family&Friends,” which reportedly led to a delay for Half-Life Alyx to rewrite part of the story, while another led to Deadlock, gaming's worst-kept secret and a game which was in play testing. thousands of players before the company lifted its confidentiality agreement in this regard.
As Gabe Follower explains, if those playing HLX are happy with it and no major changes are suggested, development will likely continue unabated and potentially give us a formal reveal in the coming months. If changes are made, the company may have to go back to the drawing board in some aspects.
Given that Gabe Follower has correctly revealed information about Deadlock and Counter-Strike 2 ahead of those games' release, there's plenty of reason to consider some truth to the rumors here.
Half-Life 3 has been one of gaming's big 'unicorns', along with a sequel to Bloodborne and GTA 6, but the series has been quiet since 2020's Half-Life Alyx. That was a prequel, only playable really virtual.
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