Will Valve Announce 'Half-Life 3' At GDC 2015? We Look At Both Sides

Steven Schneider, Tech Times 02 March 2015, 01:03 pm

You know what would be nice? Half-Life 3.

Half-Life 3, after more than a decade, is still trapped in development limbo: no one even knows if the game is actually being made or not, and conflicting reports from a single voice actor is the only evidence anyone has had to go on in years. Half-Life 2 was released way back in 2004...so, Valve, where is the sequel?

Well, many believe that Valve will announce the game at this year's Games Developer Conference. At this point, any news regarding the game would be welcome, and there are plenty of reasons why Valve might choose to debut the game at GDC 2015...unfortunately, there are just as many reasons why fans shouldn't get their hopes up.

It's a physics presentation: Source 2.0 incoming?

Half-Life 2 was originally released alongside the Source engine, which is one of the most popular PC gaming engines on the market. The game was optimized to take advantage of all the new tech that the Source engine boasted, including advanced physics.

If Valve's GDC presentation is on gaming physics, there's a chance that we could see the publisher's new engine. Whether or not it's Source 2.0 is a mystery, but if there's a chance that a new engine will make a debut, expect a game to debut alongside it...namely, Half-Life 3.

New hardware, New VR, New Engine

Valve has a lot on its plate right now: Steam Machines are likely to make a grand return at this year's GDC, and the recently-announced SteamVR headset will likely to make an impression as well. There's also the new generation of hardware now on the market, so if Valve was waiting for the next big jump in gaming technologies, now is the best time to make a move. Introducing Source 2.0 and Half-Life 3 makes a whole lot of sense.

March 3rd at 3pm...That's a lot of threes

The scheduling for Valve's presentation does look a little suspect, doesn't it?

Out of the entire show, Valve chose to host one of its presentations on the third day of the third month of the year at 3 pm. That's a whole lot of threes, and while it could be a huge coincidence, Valve has to know that the Internet is going to pick something like this apart. It's either a clue to the game's development, or Valve is really upping the ante when it comes to trolling.

While it's fun to hypothesize about what Valve will bring to the table at GDC 2015, it's time to get realistic: there's a very good chance that Valve will not be making any major announcements at this year's show. Yes, it's disappointing, but when you really look at it, Valve announcing Half-Life 3 at GDC doesn't make much sense:

Valve is focused on hardware, not games

Over the past few years, Valve has clearly been focused on aspects of gaming other than the games themselves, and 2015 could be the best example yet. It seems like the Steam Machines may finally be ready for their debut, and the SteamVR headset looks to be well on its way to mass production. With all of the publisher's focus on hardware and new tech, how could they possibly have time to work on Half-Life 3?

It's a physics presentation...and Gabe Newell won't be there

While there may not be quite as many 'concrete' reasons for Valve to debut Half-Life 3 at GDC 2015, there doesn't really need to be. The fact of the matter is, the presentation in question is on physics in games - nothing else.

While it's possible that there could be some new tech on display, it's not guaranteed. There's no word on a 'Source 2.0' or any other type of engine. Valve hasn't made any hints for years on any games in development aside from DOTA 2. The presentation isn't about upcoming games, so why assume that a game will be involved at all?

On top of all that, it's not like Gabe Newell will be making the presentation, either: Valve programmer Sergiy Migdalskiy is running the show, not Gabe Newell. Why would an unknown Valve programmer make one of the biggest gaming announcements in the history of the industry?

Look, everyone wants to see Valve finally reveal Half-Life 3 - but fans probably shouldn't get their hopes up. While the '3/3 at 3pm' scheduling is a huge coincidence, it's likely just that - a coincidence. Gabe won't be there, and even if he was, the publisher is obviously focusing on hardware more than anything else - even if Half-Life 3 was being made, it'd likely make its debut at something like E3.

Sorry, Half-Life fans - there's a good chance you won't see anything from Valve at this year's GDC.

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