According to reputable leaker and dataminer Gabe Follower, Valve has been conducting playtests for "HLX" (believed to be Half-Life 3) over the last few months.
What's especially interesting about this development is that similar playtests were held for the MOBA/hero shooter hybrid Deadlock, which led to its art style being "completely reworked twice over two years", and for Half-Life: Alyx, which was delayed into 2020 for rewrites as a result.
Half-Life fans are finally making an expansion for the Black Ops assassins in the vein of Opposing Force and Blue Shift.
These rewrites even led Jay Pinkerton and Erik Wolpaw to return to the company after leaving in 2017. It's speculated that they are also writing for HLX as they recently confirmed they are not involved in the worldbuilding or story of Deadlock.
Their latest project was the new Team Fortress 2 comic, finally concluding the story after seven years.
There have been several Half-Life 3 leaks throughout 2024, from Uncharted-inspired level design to vastly improved physics, a grenade launcher, destructible NPCs, new fire mechanics, and an upgradeable HEV suit — just to name a few highlights.
It appears to be quite far along in development,...
