A new Half-Life game could be coming — but it’s not what you think

A new Half-Life game could be coming — but it'south not what you recall

an artistic image of Half-Life 2's Gordon Freeman

(Image credit: Valve/PC Gamer)

In the 14 years since Half-Life ii Episode 2 came out, one question has been on fans' lips: "When is Half-Life iii coming out?" Yes, 2020 saw Half-Life: Alyx, a virtual reality-only experience set before Half-Life 2, but given the small percentage of gamers with the hardware to run the championship, it didn't come up close to scratching the itch for all.

Well, there's good and bad news according to Valve News Network'southward Tyler McVicker: Half-Life 3 is not currently in evolution, but the company is working on some other spin off "with the Steam Deck in heed, due to how the game is supposed to exist controlled."

Permit's go the bad news out of the way showtime. In the video titled "What is next for Gordon Freeman — The State of Half-Life," McVicker doesn't pull whatever punches about the express prospect of One-half-Life iii emerging any time presently.

"No, at the current fourth dimension, there isn't a major evolution squad working on anything exterior of the few pieces of software that are specifically tailored for hardware," he explained.

"Right now, Valve is trying to get the Steam Deck out and, like many people have observed, the Steam Deck has been significantly more successful than originally anticipated, and then Valve is throwing a lot at it."

"Any kind of traditional mouse and keyboard first-person shooter at Valve is not taking place," he concluded.

That said, a small footnote has been added to the bottom of the screen softening this slightly: "there is a very modest grouping working on HL3 at the time of recording." So some slight long-term hope at that place, maybe.

And then what is this Half-Life spin off so? Well, it'southward certainly different — Half-Life: Citadel. Citadel is, according to McVicker, "a nostalgia fest" designed to showcase Steam Deck's capabilities: A "Half-Life-based FPS/RTS hybrid that is cooperatively based."

What would that look similar? "Think nearly Left 4 Dead and Alien Swarm and an RTS and One-half-Life all having a baby." While much of the team has moved to support Steam Deck'due south concluding push button, this is something we should see in the next year and a one-half to two years, apparently.

Supposedly, in that location was originally meant to be some optional VR element besides, but that'southward been dropped as Valve is apparently losing involvement in VR in full general. On that notation, McVickers is likewise pessimistic about the future of HLX — a project to make a VR title similar Half-Life: Alyx for much weaker, standalone hardware. He believes it's at such a nascent state that it'll fall victim to the 'winter break syndrome' where it falls through the cracks later on an extended leave from the office.

Much of this is downwards to the unusual manner Valve is structured, where employees have a certain amount of liberty to pick and choose what they work on, every bit covered in the recent Reply All podcast examining Team Fortress ii's so-called "bot crisis." Information technology's all there in black and white in the company's freely available employee handbook.

That makes information technology difficult to know exactly what Valve volition practice next, which is good news for those all the same pining after Half-Life 3. Just for the moment at least, it seems the next big release is going to exist Half-Life adjacent, simply non the game you lot expect.

Freelance correspondent Alan has been writing nigh tech for over a decade, covering phones, drones and everything in betwixt. Previously Deputy Editor of tech site Alphr, his words are institute all over the web and in the occasional mag too. When not weighing up the pros and cons of the latest smartwatch, you'll probably notice him tackling his always-growing games backlog. Or, more than likely, playing Spelunky for the millionth time.