Is Half-Life 3 coming? This is probably the most overused question in gaming journalism and I can't resent anyone who just turns their eyes annoyed. In fact, there is now perhaps the most concrete indication of the long-awaited video game sequel – and that from a Valve employee personally.
Compared to GameInformer, game designer Robin Walker from Valve reveals a few details about the VR title Half-Life: Alyx and makes one particularly interesting statement: This is how the development team sees Alyx as
"a return to the world (from Half-Life) – and not as its end."
This statement coincides with that of David Speyrer (also from Valve), who gave The Verge new hope for Half-Life 3 in November 2019.
Alyx (probably) not the last half-life game
Walker goes into more detail and reports about his colleagues at Valve, some of whom were also involved in the development of Half-Life 2, but also of the first Half-Life.
For these employees, it was "extremely satisfying to return to their beloved franchise" and "to familiarize themselves with familiar characters, settings and mechanics".
We recently introduced you to these mechanics in a separate article on the new gameplay trailer for Half-Life: Alyx:
more on the subject
4 gameplay highlights in Half-Life: Alyx that would be impossible in a classic first person shooter
However, not only these veterans, but also newer members of the Walker development team, hope that "Alyx isn't the last half-life game they're allowed to work on."
Why is it taking so long?
For many years, gamers around the world have been waiting for a sequel to Half-Life 2: Episode 2. At GameStar Plus we asked why Valve is so afraid of the sequel – and why Half-Life 3 can only fail.
VR system because of half-life: Alyx sold out
Robin Walker's statement is of course no confirmation that Half-Life 3 is really coming – even if this possibility is not explicitly excluded. However, he does promise that fans could actually look forward to more games from the franchise series.
And even if it's not Half-Life 3, then possibly at least further prequels or spin-offs like Alyx about characters like Gordon Freeman, the G-Man or Barney Calhoun.
After all, the interest of the fans is definitely there: The announcement of the VR-exclusive video game doubled the sales of the Valve Index headset – some of the virtual reality glasses were and are even sold out worldwide. However, Valve promises that there will definitely be supplies until the release of Alyx on March 23, 2020.
By the way: If you want to experience the first half-life again in contemporary graphics today, you should definitely have a look at Black Mesa!