An unlisted, unnamed game has appeared on Valve’s official Steam page, and naturally, Half-Life fans are absolutely losing it. Here we go again…
As spotted by a member of Resetera (who was likely perusing Valve’s page in the wake of Wednesday’s Steam Machine announcement), Valve’s developer page on Steam currently lists two titles in its “Upcoming Releases” section, when it previously listed only one. The first game listed is Deadlock, a third-person shooter that was announced last year and is currently in early development, but has been well-regarded by those who have participated in playtests. The second game listed under “Upcoming Releases” is… well, we’re really not sure! No one is.
Unlike Deadlock, which is listed alongside an image of the game and a link to its official Steam page, there are no details available on Valve’s second upcoming release. No title is listed, no images are available, and there is obviously no link to its official Steam page. This game’s listing has presumably been added to Steam, but kept hidden from users. The only reason we know it exists is because the number next to “Upcoming Releases” implies there are two upcoming titles from Valve. It’s also unclear when exactly Valve updated its developer page on Steam. (Representatives for Valve did not immediately respond to a request for comment.)
This has understandably led to a lot of speculation (or perhaps wishful thinking) that this secret, unlisted game is, in fact, the long-awaited Half-Life 3.
“Half-Life 3 confirmed for GabeCube,” one Resetera user joked.
“I’ve seen enough,” wrote another. “Call it.”
Still, many fans of the franchise are refusing to get their hopes up. “[The unnamed game has] been there for months and Deadlock has an insider version,” one Resetera member pointed out.
In addition to the Steam Machine PC-console hybrid planned, Valve also revealed a new Steam Controller and a new VR headset, the Steam Frame, which is likely contributing to concerns that Half-Life 3 could be a VR exclusive like Half-Life: Alyx. All of that hardware is planned for 2026, and fans, predictably, are losing their minds at even the smallest crumbs suggesting Half-Life 3 could actually come out.
Others are remaining optimistic while maintaining a healthy dose of skepticism. “A free short experience to accompany the new hardware is likely,” a user who goes by Dantestar opined, before conceding that, “It could also be HL3.” “Considering they just announced a new [VR] headset, the rumored [Half-Life] game’s gonna be VR only again, isn’t it?” one user commented.
But given the fact that the Steam Frame is meant to allow players to experience non-VR games in VR, it seems unlikely Valve would choose to make the next mainline game in the Half Life series a VR exclusive. If anything, it seems likely that Half-Life 3 could be a Steam Machine launch title, in which case it would presumably be playable via both VR headsets and standard monitors.
That’s assuming Valve is even working on Half-Life 3. This unlisted, unnamed game could be anything — a new IP, a Team Fortress 2 sequel or spin-off. Hell, it could be Portal 3. But this time around, Half-Life fans do have plenty of reasons to believe Half-Life 3 is finally on the way. In 2020, Valve game designer Robin Walker told Polygon there definitely wouldn’t be another 13-year wait between Half-Life games, and 2025 has seen loads of rumors that the game is not only in development, but is currently in a playable state, suggesting that Valve is pretty far into the game’s development. Recent updates to Valve’s Source 2 engine code make those rumors a lot easier to believe.
