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Crystal ball: Hype surrounding the possibility that Valve was putting the finishing touches on Half-Life 3 reached a fever pitch last year before fading. A fresh batch of data-mining results and comments from Valve this week has reignited anticipation, however. While it remains unclear what precisely the company is working on, it appears to be completely unlike its current stable of live-service games.

Valve hasn't offered substantial details about a new Half-Life project since launching Half-Life: Alyx in 2020, but a quick name-drop has revived debate over whether Half-Life 3 is in advanced development. Code recently added to Deadlock and other Valve games also sheds more light on the game's features, if it indeed exists.

The codename HLX has appeared in the company's code since early 2024, but Valve did not mention it publicly until a Q&A session at GameSoundCon 2026 on Wednesday.…