Half-Life is a series of first-person shooter games created by Valve that were the first of their kind, combining storytelling, shooter combat, and puzzles. The first game in 1998 was awarded game of the year by over 50 publications and critics, and established itself as one of the most influential first-person shooter games ever. Its story was continued in Half-Life 2 in 2004, and was also considered a landmark in video games for its immersive physics, which were groundbreaking at the time. Most people who have interacted with the series consider it a masterpiece, but there is one thing wrong, one thing missing. Half-Life 2’s story ends on a massive cliffhanger, leaving fans of the series waiting for a third game that has yet to be released. 

The date is December 11th at The Game Awards 2025. Recently, large rumors have been spreading that Valve has been developing Half-Life 3 for a while now, and these rumors aren’t baseless. Dataminers were able to find some information on Valve’s projects through game updates from Valve’s other games that use the same game engine, Source 2. These rumors spread far and wide; even non-Half-Life fans were hearing about it and getting excited. Everyone was now hoping for Half-Life 3 to be announced at The Game Awards. Millions of people watch the event live as it can be seen on a record-breaking 171 million livestreams across multiple digital networks. The end of the event nears as the final game is about to be announced, millions of Half-Life fans sit on the edge of their seats, hoping they will get to know how the story ends, hoping for closure, only to see Megaman appear on the screen. Half-Life 3 was not announced, confirmed, or even officially addressed in any way. Millions were able to see the exact moment when Half-Life fans snapped, giving in to hopelessness and madness. Before the Game Awards segment for Megaman was even finished, fans were already debating if they should “sacrifice Gabe Newell,” who is the CEO of Valve. Other fans wanted to take their anger out on Geoff Keighley, the host and creator of The Game Awards. During The Game Awards, some Half-Life fans claimed they had a heart attack due to the poor wording of a game trailer. The trailer for Control Resonant used the words “rise and shine” before you could tell what game the trailer was for. These words are a famous line from Half-Life 2, and are heavily associated with the game. Because of this, for a solid 15 seconds, people truly believed they were watching a trailer for a new Half-Life game, only to be disappointed once again. A publisher for PCGamer even said, “You’re just being mean,” and he’s not wrong at all. It’s believed this is the main factor that put Geoff Keighley in the line of fire to be violently sacrificed by fans for Half-Life 3.

Many say it’s not a question of if we will get Half Life 3, but when. Dataminers are almost positive that the game is near the end of its development. Another Valve project that’s near the end of its development is the Steam Machine, a brand new console by Valve that’s scheduled to be released in early 2026. With this new hardware, it’s likely Valve will want to release new titles along with it, and of course, fans are hoping Half-Life 3 will be released alongside the Steam Machine. However, don’t get your hopes up, there’s a real chance the Steam Machine will be delayed purely because of RAM prices, which have increased by over 400% since late 2025. This increase in price is due to AI companies making large purchases and deals with manufacturers for RAM, causing a shortage. Because of this, Valve doesn’t seem to have a solid retail price for the Steam Machine yet, as RAM prices are still increasing. But still, some fans have set the new goal post for Half Life 3 at the release of the Steam Machine, but we can’t really be sure if the game will come out this year or if it will even come out at all. The only thing we can do is hope.