Valve remain silent on “Half-Life 3”, and knowing how secretive the company is in general, they’ll likely remain that way for a long time, at least until they’re actually ready to show the game to the world. And while some of their fans have been able to more or less patiently wait for the company to make the big announcement, others have not been so fond of the long wait, and have started searching for answers in the most unexpected places. It seems like Valve are going to have to make an announcement at some point if they want to calm down their fans – although the company has already recently stated that the game is currently on pause.
At reddit, some users have been speculating that 2016 would be the most sensible year to release “Half-Life 3”, as it would match a certain mathematical pattern with the release years of previous titles in the series. And while this might sound a bit too far-fetched, it also wouldn’t be that out of the ordinary given some of Valve’s previous experiments with their release dates. Something that’s also been pointed out by fans supporting this “theory” is the fact that 2016 is the year of Tritium, or H3.
On the other hand, Valve’s most recent statement about the game was an outright denial – according to the company, “Half-Life 3” isn’t going to become a reality anytime soon, as the company doesn’t have enough development resources for the game right now. This could be supported by the fact that the studio is working on several new titles (some of which have been confirmed officially, while others are merely being speculated right now), and with their small development team, it would be rather difficult for them to also be working on “Half-Life 3” at the same time.
If Valve are indeed preparing the game behind the scenes though, the most sensible move for them would be to simply keep quiet until it’s close to a finished state, and only then make the big announcement. This would not only match their previous release patterns, but it would also give them more freedom in determining their release schedule. If they end up running into a last-minute delay, they can easily go around it if they haven’t promised an exact release date yet.
And if the game is indeed coming in 2016, then 2015 should see at least some semi-official confirmation by Valve. Even if the company doesn’t release the news on their own, it will probably be hard for the secret to stay concealed for long, and gamers should find out through a leak at some point during the year.
I want Half Life 3!