- Valve developers have accidentally revealed the rumored Half-Life 3 project.
- During a conference Q&A, a developer accidentally slipped up and mentioned the codename HLX.
- This pretty much confirms that HLX is an active Valve project, as a motley of rumors has suggested.
Half-Life 3 has slowly evolved to become one of gaming’s worst-kept secrets. While a lot of rumors and insiders over the years have hinted at its existence, we haven’t heard Valve mention a sliver of detail about it in any official capacity.
That finally seems to have changed now, albeit by accident. Valve developers have revealed Half-Life 3’s existence via a slip of the tongue. The company’s music designer, Mike Morasky, mentioned the game’s codename HLX during a Q&A session at a conference.
Why it matters: Even if accidental, Valve officially acknowledging the rumored Half-Life 3 project by its codename has reignited hope among anxious fans who have been patiently waiting for an official announcement for years.
In the GameSoundCon Q&A panel (at the 57:47 mark), Mike accidentally mentioned that HLX uses its own kind of HDR when discussing the tech in Deadlock. The developer stopped talking after catching his thoughts, likely going quiet after realizing the slip-up.
And in fact, I think Deadlock has their own version of HDR. HLX has its own version, so on and so forth.
-Valve’s Music Designer, Mike Morasky.
Mike’s colleague, David Feise, quickly caught the mistake and jokingly whispered ‘nice work’ in his ear, which was also picked up by the microphone. Later in the conference, David teased Mike by congratulating him for only mentioning HLX once in the entire panel.
Good job, you only said HLX once.
-Valve Employee David Feise To Mike Morasky.
Reputable insiders previously highlighted that Valve was supposed to reveal Half-Life 3 at TGA 2025 but backed off due to Steam Machine memory price issues. Since then, the company has also trolled dataminers by mentioning HLX in a Dota 2 code variable.
The game has reportedly been in the final stages of production since last year. It’s likely still in the polishing stage unless Valve is reworking a major section—like the game’s story—far into its development cycle.
Do you think Valve will announce the next Half-Life game later this year? Will the studio officially attempt to cover up the slip-up or let the rumors fester? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below, or join the discussion on the Tech4Gamers forum.
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Shameer Sarfaraz has previously worked for eXputer as a Senior News Writer for several years. Now with Tech4Gamers, he loves to devotedly keep up with the latest gaming and entertainment industries. He has a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science and years of experience reporting on games. Besides his passion for breaking news stories, Shahmeer loves spending his leisure time farming away in Stardew Valley. VGC, IGN, GameSpot, Game Rant, TheGamer, GamingBolt, The Verge, NME, Metro, Dot Esports, GameByte, Kotaku Australia, PC Gamer, and more have cited his articles.
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