Half-Life 3 is "Not Happening", According to Valve Insider

If you're expecting to see Valve release a third Half-Life game in the near future, you might as well drop your hopes on it because an unnamed insider from Valve recently spoke with Game Informer about the possibility of a sequel to the hit first-person sci-fi PC game, and revealed that there's no development for Half-Life 3 at all.

"I've heard that some teams have had two to three people working on it, and they eventually ran into a wall, and some teams may have gotten up to 30 or 40 people before it was scrapped...They've had some different thoughts about what it should be. Some are all over the place, from one end of the spectrum being what you would expect – a single-player narrative-focused game – to completely different entertainment ideas that are as wild as they are weird. They were thinking about using the Half-Life characters as a brand for entirely different purposes. Some were bizarre, like turning Half-Life into an RTS, or a live-action, choice-driven game. These things have been contemplated by people, but were never being considered by the whole of Valve as "Yeah, that was the plan."

The insider said that Half-Life 3 is just a fantasy project that people were occassionally working on in groups but once the ideas are brought up, they don't actually come together in collaboration.

"I don't think there will be any more. But at any given moment, they make decisions as they come. If some people within Valve make something that they collectively feel is exciting, then it will happen. That's going to be hard for that to happen now. Every time a Half-Life project gets some gravity and then collapses, it becomes harder for the next one to start up."

While the insider clearly states that Valve has no plans to make Half-Life 3, he's not ruling out the possibility that the developer may one day make the decision to start the project. According to him, that scenario is doubtful.

"I don't think there will be any more. But at any given moment, they make decisions as they come. If some people within Valve make something that they collectively feel is exciting, then it will happen. That's going to be hard for that to happen now. Every time a Half-Life project gets some gravity and then collapses, it becomes harder for the next one to start up."

Since this person is unnamed, it's reasonable to take this interview with a dash of skepticism, but what he said does make sense. Valve has been known for not having a third game in their franchises, and it looks like the company's reputation will never change...at least not in the near future.