Newsflash: Half-Life 3 Still Isn't Coming Out

[Shamus Young]

Newsflash: Half-Life 3 Still Isn't Coming Out

In a world where everyone seems hellbent on running sequels into the ground, the continued silence of the Half-Life franchise is increasingly strange.

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[Joshroom]

I think that if there is a real reason - beyond all the hoaxes, speculation and rumors - it will probably turn out to be a case of Occam's razor. The fact that, after so many years of hype, the game will never be what the majority of people want it to be: aka awesome. Look at Duke Nukem or the mediocre entry that was Broken Age (it wasn't bad per se, just dull and definitely not up to its pedigree). Valve knows that, no matter what they do, they game will never live up to its promise.

Still, I am always prepared to eat my words if it is released one of these days. But I'm not holding my breath.

 

[Silentpony_v1legacy]

This is still a thing? People still believe there's a chance Half Life 3 is coming out?!

 

[Exley97_v1legacy]

In regards to the alleged anonymous employee cited by The Know, the first reason -- it makes so much money on Steam that HL3 development isn't a priority -- may hold some water since they really haven't done much of ANY game development recently.

But the second reason? Mass Effect 3? Really? Being afraid of backlash doesn't really seem to be a trait of Valve. If it was afraid of pissing off fans and suffering a huge backlash, it never would have required Steam for Half-Life 2.

 

[vallorn]

A lot of people have pointed out that it's likely that Valve are waiting for a big new technology they are working on to be shown off with HL3. It would definitely continue the trend of how HL1 and 2 were quite heavily pushing their new technologies in the games engines.

Some people think that it's VR that Valve are pushing with HL3 but the news on that front has been silent for a few years. People also used to think it would be to push some features in Source 2 but we've just seen DOTA 2 be ported to Source 2 so HL3 isn't the premier game to show off Source 2 apparently.

In the end, I think they are waiting for the right time to make it and release it. It likely will come out someday but until then there's no use rabbiting for rumors. Especially ones by an anonymous source who claims to work at Valve but doesn't understand their management structure or the way employees there work despite both being public knowledge for years.

 

[Something Amyss]

Regardless of Mass Effect 3, this is going to piss people off no matter how it plays out. I don't care if that's "the reason," but it's a pretty good reason to manage expectations. Of a sequel, of the sequel being good, whatever.

But I do need to know what happens to Crowbar!

 

[bificommander]

A: Would the backlash really be worse than the backlash of not releasing it?

B: Would the backlash really be worse than what gets dumped on Steam for whatever policy or feature on a daily basis?

Yeah, not buying that excuse. Besides, even if it isn't the big satisfying finale everyone is hoping for, avoiding a ME3-level dissapointment is easy. Just don't completely contradict the tone and story that came before. If they just make an episode 3 with the portal gun, a bossfight with the brainslug and Gordon riding his dunebuggy into the sunset with Alyx on the backseat, it'd be boring and unoriginal but it still wouldn't be nearly as jarring as ME3.

 

[JCAll]

Half-Life 3/Half-Life 2: Episode III is going to end the same way all the Half Life games end. With Gordon getting pulled out of the fire by the G Man and put back into the cupboard for the next game. We already know that, it the build up that's important. Just do it. What are you spending all these billions you're raking in from Steam on? Hats?

 

[Sigmund Av Volsung]

Thing is, Mass Effect 3 was bad all over. The combat took center stage, the side characters all had their development halted in favour of Shepard's child hallucinations and there was little emotional build up to the war against the Reapers. The ending was just the cherry on top.

Good article though. The Last Guardian isn't dead, so Half Life 3 may yet live. After all, Source 2 is on the horizon.

 

[wetfart]

Maybe they just want the award for longest time in vaporware? Can we all laugh when HL3/HL2:E3 is all about Adrian Shepard and they announce that Gordon Freeman won't be back until HL4?

 

[P-89 Scorpion]

In regards to the alleged anonymous employee cited by The Know, the first reason -- it makes so much money on Steam that HL3 development isn't a priority -- may hold some water since they really haven't done much of ANY game development recently.

They released games through 2007-2013 and they are not that big between running steam and the constantly updating TF2 and Dota 2 why is having a year or two off such a problem? Rockstar games has nearly 3 times the staff over 7 locations and also haven't released a new game since 2013.

 

[Bobic]

This is still a thing? People still believe there's a chance Half Life 3 is coming out?!

While it can make sense to be cynical, I don't think we can rule it out. Afterall both the Last Guardian and even more bafflingly Shenmue 3 were announced (again) at E3, albeit with a kickstarter for Shenmue. And let's not forget Duke Nukem Forever (as much as we'd like to). So it's not completely outside the realms of possibility.

That said, I'm certainly not expecting it to, and won't pay any attention to rumours or talk of its release until someone high up in valve (preferably Gabe) says 'We're making it, here's some gameplay footage, here's a release date'.

On the topic of the Mass Effect 3 thing, I can sorta see that reasoning in why they'd struggle with a script for the game, simply because of one dude, G-man. The events of episode 2 flesh out his role a bit more, to the point where it really seems like they were building to some big reveal in episode 3. The problem is, though, that he's too mysterious, with seemingly god-like powers, that any answer to who he is is automatically more boring than the intrigue of what he could be. So, if I was a writer I'd worry about that, so that's my pet theory about why they'll never do it. You know, follow Homer Simpson's advice, never try, never fail.

Though, I of course think my pet-theory is dumb, the real reason being they make enough money through steam, and free-to-play Dota and TF2, that they don't really need to worry about selling their own AAA games anymore.

 

[Fijiman]

In all seriousness, the only time I see Valve releasing or even talking about Half-Life 3 is if Steam stops making them giant piles of money every two seconds. That or they get really bored and actually feel like doing something other than making new hats for TF2.

I also feel it appropriate to post this video here.

Spoiler

Spoiler: also related

 

[Xman490]

Pre-E3 2013: "Oh, man! New consoles are coming out! I bet Valve is going to immediately start developing on their hardware!"
2014: "Well, the last game they made is practically 2 years old, and the consoles had their launch period, so maybe?"
2015: "The first PC Gaming event at E3? This would be a good time for Valve to convince those on the fence to ignore new consoles and go for PC!"

Valve just doesn't make games anymore.

 

[Callate]

On page 2, G-Man illustrates the chances that we will actually see Half-Life 3 in our lifetime.

Seriously, if it ever comes out, I'll probably buy it. Actually, I'll wait for reviews, and if it's good, I'll buy it; if it's dreck, I'll wait until it's under ten bucks, and then buy it.

But I've given up any real sense of engagement with the issue. If the amount of pressure on Valve up until now to make HL3 hasn't caused it to spring into being, it's not like my sighing or griping is going to do so. And I don't have time to set up a lawn chair on Valve's campus.

 

[verdant monkai]

Valve just doesn't make games anymore.

They are worse than EA, Ubisoft and Microsoft. At least those guys will actually give you the chance to play new games. All Valve do is have a monopoly over online pc gaming.

Fuck em

 

[Nurb]

Yea blaming gamers is a BS reason.

They're too scared to release a game because of backlash but still trying to produce their little Steam box?

 

[Vigormortis]

Just gonna parrot what I said in the other thread on the topic of that The Know[footnote]Talk about an ironic show title.[/footnote] video:

"It gets worse, believe it or not. Our source tells us that Valve's management isn't invested in the game coming out at all, and have even moved developers and resources away from the project."

And that, folks, is absolute confirmation that this "news" story and it's "anonymous source" are absolute bullshit.

Valve has no set managers and any given project has it's resources allocated and dictated by those working on the project.

These "insightful" people at The Know either got trolled hard by their "source" or are too stupid or lazy to look into how Valve operates.

Nothing to see here, people. Move along.

This is why it's usually best to ignore 'news' from someone citing a source as "I know a guy".

But I do need to know what happens to Crowbar!

Will he get a new coat of paint? Will he finally have all that brain matter and other assorted viscera cleaned off? Will he atone for his genocidal rampage against wooden boxes? Will he be replaced by the vastly superior knife-wrench?

I HAVE TO KNOW!!

 

[step1999]

I think that if there is a real reason - beyond all the hoaxes, speculation and rumors - it will probably turn out to be a case of Occam's razor. The fact that, after so many years of hype, the game will never be what the majority of people want it to be: aka awesome. Look at Duke Nukem or the mediocre entry that was Broken Age (it wasn't bad per se, just dull and definitely not up to its pedigree). Valve knows that, no matter what they do, they game will never live up to its promise.

Still, I am always prepared to eat my words if it is released one of these days. But I'm not holding my breath.

Whenever people say this, it always reminds me of how TF2 spent 9 YEARS in development (which to this day is STILL a longer length of time than we've been waiting for HL3) and it still turned out awesome. I don't think HL3's going to be the best game ever if it comes out, but I trust that if Valve IS working on it, it's taken so long for a good reason, and it'll be pretty damn good when it comes out. Valve's never disappointed me with their games before. If it's at least as good as Episode 2, then it'll be fine with me. (I realize that some people have overblown expectations, but from what I've seen on forums, most HL fans would be fine with that level of quality.)

Sorry for the ramble.