It could make sense that they are waiting for the “Half-Life 3” hype to die down, as that would not only make the game more surprising, but it could also give people a chance to evaluate it more realistically instead of looking at it through the eyes of the hype.
Because all of this attention is definitely contributing to how people are going to accept the game, and it might have a negative impact if Valve are not careful.
There has been speculation that the game is never coming out precisely because of the hype – according to that theory, Valve can never release something that will live up to those huge expectations that people have right now, and they don’t want to ruin their reputation by making a disappointing release.
But many are convinced that the more disappointing option would be to wait forever for something that’s never going to happen, so it would definitely make sense for Valve to bring out the game sooner or later, rather than never. Hopefully the post on reddit was actually true and not yet another piece of fabrication. If it’s false, Valve should at least come out and deny it publicly so people would stop discussing the game and feeling disappointed that Valve are not communicating with them.