The survival first-person shooter video game “Half-Life 3” has long been in the rumor mills because it has a good following among gamers as established by its very successful predecessor games, “Half-Life” and “Half-Life 2.”
“Half-Life 2” has been released more than 10 years ago and it is no surprise that gamers feel that the next installment to the game is long overdue.
Unfortunately, game developer Valve Corporation has been keeping mum about the details of the game. Most of the information about “Half-Life 3” either comes from supposed leaks, teases, or hints from former Valve employee or people who claim to be privy to the goings-on in the company, but none of them were confirmed or denied by Valve.
What seems consistent in the rumor mill is that the multiplayer zombie shooter video game “Left 4 Dead 3” will come out ahead of “Half-Life 3” given the thrust of Valve Corporation for the more profitable multiplayer games and its gaming platform Steam.
There have also been rumors saying that Valve may no longer push through with the development of “Half-Life 3” since it would be a gamble on the part of the company. Apparently, there is just too much competition in the market for first-person shooter video games compared to online multiplayer games where Valve has obvious dominance, particularly on Steam.
Upcoming games on Steam
However, the speculation that “Half-Life 3” would be shelved for good has been debunked recently by Steam Database or SteamDB, a website for Steam games, when it got hold of a list of upcoming games possibly coming to Steam.
Apart from the PlayStation 4 hit game “Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture” and “Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD,” “Half-Life 3” is also included. Apparently, SteamDB based its assumption that “Half-Life 3” is coming out soon because of the recent emergence of the game’s vaporware inside Valve’s PC game-sharing program.
In addition, an hl3.txt file was also found in the latest update of “DoTA 2” a few months ago which seem to indicate that Valve is now working on the development of “Half-Life 3,” shutting down rumors that the game developer has already cancelled its development.
Everyone knows that the SteamDB is a site with a long history of predicting upcoming game titles, accurate too most of the time. But it does not get always things right too. The site once predicted the release of “Halo 3” on Steam in 2013 but the game never made it to the platform.
Accordingly, the SteamDB said that a package found in Steam filed as ID 66300 was “Half-Life 3.”
The package has not been modified since making it to the list on November 4. It contains three files including Half-Life 3 Developer Comp, Half-Life 3 for Beta Testing, and Half-Life 3.
But SteamDB issued a word of caution regarding “Half-Life 3” when it said that while the information that it has come across with came from Valve and many of those kinds of leaks turned out to be real in the past, it is still important to note that third-party Steam game developers can create and name their own apps and packages, details Korea Portal.
Long-awaited game
Now that 2016 is upon the gaming community, latest reports have it that “Half-Life 3” might be released in 2017.
However, some critics are quick to point out that if “Half-Life 3” is to be released next year, then Valve Corporation must release “Left 4 Dead 3” this year, which seems unlikely. With that being said, the earliest that “Half-Life 3” could come out in the gaming consoles is in 2018 or about 14 years after “Half-Life 2,” notes IGN.