So why hasn't there been a Half Life 3 yet?

Steam has no financial imperative to release games. To them, their content production's sole purpose is to buttress their reputation.

Prototypes haven't been up to Gaben's grade. Until there is actually something revolutionary in terms of tech and/or content, he'll keep biding time.
 
Seems like there's a lack of vision and leadership at Valve, with everyone kinda just doing their own thing. Attempts have been made to get HL3 going, but they have all fizzled out.
 
SF Kosmo said:
Sure, Psychonauts 2 was well received, hell even Half Life Alyx has to count for something right?
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Psychonauts was in development hell for the first one so I didn't even think of that. I guess that counts.

Alyx probably counts as well, but it seems a bit like a branded experiment like the steam deck built in.
 
gothmog said:
Alyx probably counts as well, but it seems a bit like a branded experiment like the steam deck built in.
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I mean Alyx is as large and substantial as any other game in the series. It happens to be made for VR but it's very much a full fledged HL game and had that legacy and expectation to live up to.
 
SCB3 said:
I've been on a Half Life kick lately and waiting for my Steam Deck to arrive to go through the series again, but it makes me wonder, what ever happened to the 3rd game?

From looking around we have the following:

  • HL Episode 3 - Plot was leaked out and seemed great, but what happened to the Episode?
  • Half Life Alyx - more a prequel that leads back to the ending of Ep. 2 - No Spoilers here but it makes sense
  • Valve seemingly focussing on first on Steam and then on VR
  • All the HL Writers no longer at Valve
  • Valve do not talk about HL at all
So what the hell happened, its such a an amazing and strange IP to be left seemingly dormant with no plans at all for it

Personally, I do not think if it ever is made, it'll live up to expectations but it will still be a decent game, especially seeing how well Source games handle now (Titanfall and Apex for example)
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honestly, because they dont need to.
 
Fuz said:
Yes. It gave PC, what was an open platform, launchers and walled gardens.
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What is the problem with a launcher that gives several features including the best one, auto updates? And how is Steam a wallet garden if you can buy legit Steam keys outside Steam?
 
1. Valve outgrew their gamedev ambitions, with their publishing arm. From millions to billions in profits, let alone gross revenue.
2. A physics based FPS with adequate action, level/game design and stellar writing needs a AAA team, which breeds innovation. They (most of the team) have left Valve. You can't just have a few puzzles with wooden boxes to get out of a room or use the gravity gun to move objects and call it Half-Life 3 (or EP 3) in 2023. The consumer is far more aware and played many of this ilk, many of HL's clones, even.
3. The hype for this game via memes, is far bigger than what it was in 2004/05, so big that no matter what they do, it can't satisfy the fans and critics. Alyx got lauded because VR is completely new platform.
4. Valve usually releases a slew of their IP's sequels with the launch of their new engine, and even when a distantly possible Source successor is out to the public, I don't think HL3 will, for the reasons listed above, just L4D and the next CS, maybe DoTA III?
5. Outsourcing will not work because how coveted of a flagship IP Half-Life is (I know CSGO and DoTA II, but what I mean is HL's legacy as the face of Valve). You don't trust your flagship IP, with any 3rd party team.

The closest we'll get to a possible/potential Half-Life 3 is either in VR or Gabe's vision of BCI - Brain Computer Interfaces - when they go mainstream. We're looking not just years, but decades...
 
Flutta said:
People still asking this question?

HL is a mediocre franchise…. Even Gabe knows it.

🏃💨
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Just make a Gordon Freeman a dad, and an angry dad because he has to protect a kid, and suddenly all the old dad gamers retroactively make it the best and most profound game series ever.
 
DragonNCM said:
Steam sales profit>>>>>>HL3 profit
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Certainly. But HL 2 Ep3 profit >>>> steam machines? Only with the steam deck, any of that previous work found some use and the margin is probably rather thin still, so still not much profit.
I doubt profit is a big factor, those are very different teams doing hw stuff, steam stuff and game stuff.
For some weird reason Valve, probably Gabe himsself, just did not feel it anymore. No idea why some fan fiction wasn't turned into an unofficial sequel, instead of Black Mesa.
 
Good question.. I played it late with The Orange Box on X360 and had a blast. HL3 would sale like hot cakes.
 
I do think honestly that the developers are terrified of the legacy.

I'm many ways I expected something akin to Alyx but much fuller in length, I'm unsure they can just do that now as it would just be compared to Alyx. Both Half-Life and Half-Life 2 on release where the very best the genre had to offer.

That's what valve needs to make here, not just a great game but a game that can stand next to the giants of today and easily be argued that it is the better title for years to come.
 
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drive off 50 cent GIF
 
Seems like Valve just decided to stop making games for a while. Even now when they're at it again the releases are very far apart.

I guess they got comfortable, there's no pressure on them so no reason to churn out games anymore. If they had more competition in the space I'm sure they would be making a lot more games in order to provide exclusives for Steam.
 
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SCB3 said:
yea this is what I mean, outside of VR whats really the next big technological step?

It reminds me of Mario Kart 8, what could you add to it that justifies a Mario Kart 9 at this point?
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They'll add ray tracing to the original game when the switch 2 comes out and call it a sequal most probably lol
 
AV said:
Short answer: Valve don't care about giving you closure.

Longer answer: HL1 and 2 were somewhat boundary pushing for their times. What would a HL3 realistically do as a first person shooter? Ship's long sailed on an Episode 3 so kick that can down the road. HL3 needs a wider adoption of VR as a consumer tech and it's just not going that way right now. Alyx is the best VR experience I've had but it's easy to see why they wouldn't bother making another one for the returns they probably saw.

There's a team working on a fan-made episode 3 based on Laidlaw's script which is probably the closest you're gonna get.
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Mephisto40 said:
The only time it's ever coming out is if they can make something truely groundbreaking that other games havnt done before

Which at this point, is probably going to be never
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My thoughts too, Valve probably wants to do a cutting edge thing and doesn't care how long it takes to design/develop.
 
Yoshichan said:
Please xplain
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If you think you're never ever gonna play Alyx then watching the ending on Youtube. If there's a chance you might ever play it, don't Youtube it.
 
People get very fired up over this topic. As a very stoic, level head individual I'm going to say I think its a mix of pursuing other interests related to technology and constant experimentation whilst not sweating any deadlines due to Steam keeping them afloat. When people say Valve doesn't care for its fanbase, I think that's incorrect. They're business model lives and dies on them caring about their fanbase, but their reach went further than just Half Life. Their constant support of Steam as a platform is the only reason we have such a great market that people care about on PC. You've seen how these other companies care when it comes to their own distribution platforms. They just don't. They're all garbage. Valve is responsible for supporting the PC as a serious gaming platform for decades now and they could have easily put in half the effort and still had a monopoly. No one would bother if they didn't have Valve to compete with. That's not just capitalism at work, but actual progress with a core ideal. Not seeing a new Half Life all this time is an extension of that ideal I think. I personally think that there is constant experimentation behind the scenes at Valve. Projects starting, getting cancelled and all revolving around new technology with game development downstream from that. They won't do another one until it excites them. I am a massive Valve simp by the way. Maybe I'm wrong
 
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At this point i just want the story arc ended, i dont care in what medium, obviously a game would be my 1st choice, but a graphic novel i'd accept at this point.
 
radewagon said:
Cause Half Life is an overrated series with meh gameplay, generic characters, and a story that can only get dumber as it edges forward towards closure.

I dunno... watching the mysterious gman, a ripoff of agent Smith, antagonize a mute engineer.... it's hard to care where the series goes next.

Edited due to gross inaccuracy
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kristen wiig gtfo GIF

Reason?!
Because Steam prints money
 
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SCB3 said:
Long story short:

You revert the death of Eli and Alyx makes a deal with G man to do so whilst trying to save Gordan as well
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The ending is 10/10 GOAT

The buildup to what's inside the vault, the fucked up corridors and music of chapter 11 and the unveiling of what the vault was containing.. and that ending..

Goosebumps
 
I think half life 3 will never happen because people have unrealistically high expectations for graphics and state-of-the-art tech associated with the game.
Like it's expected to have RTX 9080 level graphics or something silly like that.
Valve won't bother making the game because it's guaranteed some (probably most) will complain. Even if the game has fantastic gameplay and using today's level of standards, graphically speaking.
 
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