Valve publicly mentions HLX, which might be Half-Life 3, for the first time

[Daniel Sims]

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. Composer and sound designer Mike Morasky confirmed that Deadlock and HLX each have custom HDR implementations.

– Tyler "Hype Merchant" McVicker (@Tyler_McV) October 22, 2026

Fellow sound designer David Feise, seated next to him, could be heard whispering "nice work," and later quipped that Morasky had only said HLX once, suggesting the mention wasn't meant to be public. This isn't the first time Morasky has referenced future Half-Life projects.

Then, on Thursday, well-known Valve data miner Tyler McVicker released his latest video describing how recent Source 2 engine updates for Counter-Strike 2, Dota 2, and Deadlock might relate to HLX.

Counter-Strike 2, Dota 2, and Deadlock are multiplayer games, but several reports from McVicker last year outlined portions of code mentioning systems typically associated with single-player shooters, such as AI-controlled enemies and concepts from prior Half-Life games.

Other features that seem unique to HLX include procedural level alteration, ray tracing, and AMD FSR support. In this week's video, McVicker also described features related to the Combine gunship and other enemies, as well as dynamic rain audio and new cut-scene animation technology.

The data miner has also been tracking Valve's commit rate, which spiked after the recent Source 2 updates. While some observers might suspect AI coding tools are behind the uptick, prior reports lead McVicker to believe the company has been using AI tools since at least 2024. The nature and extent of AI use within Valve remains unclear, but it's possible that HLX or something else is behind the increased activity.

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Valve publicly mentions HLX, which might be Half-Life 3, for the first time

 

[GeoffreyA]

Worse than waiting for HL3 are the so-called Valve insiders, such as McVicker, that have been peddling the game, falsely or not, for years.

 

[James321]

Lost all hope many years ago.

Don't get me wrong I would enjoy another HL game, but really couldn't care less if it never comes either.

 

[godrilla]

We will probably get Steam deck 2 oled before Half-life 3.

 

[3ogdy]

It was interesting and exciting to learn about the possible Half - Life 3...for a while.
It has become so motherducking boring now. It's just tiresome. Same goes for L4D3. Great games, but them trying to drop hints here and there only makes me hate them.

Once you're in the final testing phase, start dropping hints and, most importantly, release the Dog gamn game.

Anything else is a cheap mix of bull and cow chit.

I'm so tired of this breadcrumbs marketing tactic.
There's more to life than dreaming and hoping for some executives to decide to release a game.
Look at Rockstar and how they handled GTA VI....
How many GTAs have we got since HL2? (7?)
Over 9.000.
How many great memories have we made with Rockstar's franchise this far?

What if we had to wait for the next GTA(San Andreas) since... 2002? How exciting would've that been for... over TWENTY YEARS.

Give us a break, Valve.
Also, you'll need more than a full life for a proper HL3 release. Might as well change the name of the game.

Techspot shouldn't even mention anything related to this BS. It's just a waste of time.

 

[GeoffreyA]

It was interesting and exciting to learn about the possible Half - Life 3...for a while.
It has become so motherducking boring now. It's just tiresome. Same goes for L4D3. Great games, but them trying to drop hints here and there only makes me hate them.

Once you're in the final testing phase, start dropping hints and, most importantly, release the Dog gamn game.

Anything else is a cheap mix of bull and cow chit.

I'm so tired of this breadcrumbs marketing tactic.
There's more to life than dreaming and hoping for some executives to decide to release a game.
Look at Rockstar and how they handled GTA VI....
How many GTAs have we got since HL2? (7?)
Over 9.000.
How many great memories have we made with Rockstar's franchise this far?

What if we had to wait for the next GTA(San Andreas) since... 2002? How exciting would've that been for... over TWENTY YEARS.

Give us a break, Valve.
Also, you'll need more than a full life for a proper HL3 release. Might as well change the name of the game.

Techspot shouldn't even mention anything related to this BS. It's just a waste of time.

Make people wait too long, and they get tired and don't care. Also, a bit of open communication with the community would go a long way.

 

[Neatfeatguy]

Once Valve walked away from HL2:E3 I stopped caring about it. To be frank, I didn't even like the first episode game, the novelty of the gravity gun wore off real quick and episode 2 was only slightly better over 1.

No one really, truly, cares about HFL3. Sure, some folks may be interested still and I'm sure the game might sell well if it does actually get made and launched, but no one actually cares if it does or not.

 

[Megalomaniac]

Every story needs a good ending. Publishing HL: Alyx only on VR ensured that a small subset of the community rich enough to play it could play it and left the rest of us out - aside from Youtube's video recordings.

I'm not sure why Valve is hesitating to finish the story. Perhaps they want Freeman to be a permanent mascot like Master Chief? I just want to take the fight to the Combine and save the world.