Dataminer: Half-Life 3 development has reached its final stages

Blogger and data miner Tyler McVicker has revealed in a new video the status and progress of Valve’s secret game codenamed hlx, a potential Half-Life 3.

Image source: Steam (Melber)

It was previously reported that hlx entered a phase of intensive testing before the New Year. For Valve games, a mix of holiday breaks and active playtests usually ends with a major rework or even the cancellation of the project.

According to McVicker, the recent major update to Dota 2 (a popular MOBA, like hlx, is based on the Source 2 engine) indicates that the game “survived” the New Year holidays without even undergoing any major changes.

Moreover, the Source 2 updates included in the patch indicate that Valve has taken on optimization (the game recently added support for FSR 3 scaling) and polishing hlx, which is something studios do in the final stages of development.

Half-Life 2 20th Anniversary Illustration (Image source: Valve)

According to the findings of dataminers, hlx is a single-player first-person shooter with an emphasis on interactivity and simulation (including vehicles), as well as progressive AI (NPCs will have a mood system).

«Hlx, or (as we think it will be called) Half-Life 3, feels like what we think Valve wants – the next generation of interactivity in virtual space,” McVicker concluded.

The cancelled Half-Life 2: Episode Three never came out because it didn’t move the industry forward. With hlx, it looks like a different story is brewing. McVicker allows for an official announcement of the game in 2025.