At the end of October, Valve reporter Tyler McVicker claimed that a Half-Life 3 trailer was rumoured to be released in November. Shortly after, others came forward and seemingly corroborated these rumours, claiming that a major announcement was imminent.
Most of these, however, were not hinting at Half-Life 3, but instead the Steam Machine, Frame, and Controller, a trifecta of new Valve hardware. Still, within the hubbub of the cuboid PC console, many insiders said that they had also heard murmurs of a Half-Life 3 announcement on the horizon for 2025, sparking what has been the most fervent week in the community since 2019.
Fans latched onto these reports and cooked up all sorts of theories, speculating that 'HLX' would be announced on November 18, the anniversary of Alyx's reveal, and the start of an unusually arid period on the Steam store. That day came and went, so new theories cropped up that it would be announced on the anniversary of the first Half-Life; again, that date came and went.
22 days into November, flying past every single theory, and the community's faith in these rumours is beginning to wane. However, we still have five weeks...
