It was three months ago that Valve introduced a new virtual reality headset calledIndex, and that’s a number that will feel agonizingly familiar to Valve fans: when it comes to threes, the company’s intellectual properties seem to stall after the second game is released. Before the likes ofLeft For DeadandPortalwas theHalf-Lifeseries, and fans have been clamoring for a third iteration to that franchise for just about 15 years now.
Last week, Valve hosted a launch party for its new virtual reality headset, and company co-founder Gabe Newell took to the stage to talk about the milestones of the company and what the future holds. While discussing these milestones, he also took the opportunity to tease a third entrant to theHalf-Lifeseries yet again:
Milestones aren’t really the end of anything. They’re really the beginning. SoHalf-Lifeled toHalf-Life 2, Source led to Source 2, the experiments that we did withTeam Fortress 2were what enabled us to buildDota.Artifactis the reason we’re able to doUnderlords. So, maybe someday the number 2 will lead us to that shiny integer glowing on a mountain someplace. We’ll just have to see.
The thinly-veiled line is yet another reference toHalf-Life 3, which may just be one of the most oft-requested games on the planet. Valve has been known to makeHalf-Life 3jokesin fairly regular occurrence, so Gabe’s teasing line will come as a total non-surprise to many.
Persistent rumors indicating that an as-yet-unannounced Valve Index game takes place within theHalf-Lifeuniverse have kept surfacing, and it’s something that may have been in the works sinceat least three years ago. While the company has yet to make any concrete statements about such a venture, one thing is certain: VR or not, fans are hungry for a newHalf-Lifetitle. With the earlier games of the franchise being so well-received, however, the pressure to maintain such high consumer standards has put Valve in a tough spot when it comes doing the series justice and satisfying consumer expectations.
In any event, Gabe’s latest one-liner regardingHalf-Life 3can be added to a pile of previous hints and teases. There’s no official statement from Valve regarding the game, but even the lack of anything concrete won’t prevent fans from always having hope.
