An industry insider has claimed that Valve is apparently working on multiple new Half-Life projects as we speak [via Comicbook].
For well over a decade, fans have clung to the hope that Valve would follow up the critically acclaimed Half-Life 2 with the completion of the expected trilogy (I refuse to say Half-Life…).
Half-Life 2 released in 2004 and it’s widely considered to be one of the greatest video games of all time, so it would have made perfect sense to follow it up with a numbered third installment.
After 16 years we had all but given up hope that the trilogy will ever happen. Though technically while we’re still waiting for that third installment, Valve did release VR game Half-Life: Alyx, which arrived in 2020.
One of the many rumours as to why Valve never gave us a third numbered installment of this beloved franchise was that the developer was reportedly concerned it would never live up to the high expectations that its predecessors had set.
However, after the 16-year wait, Half-Life: Alyx, a prequel to Half-Life 2, was met with high critical acclaim from both writers and fans alike.
Unfortunately, Half-Life: Alyx is a VR exclusive on Steam’s PC platform, which means that there is a huge portion of the fan base that has never or never will play this game.
Thankfully if recent reports are true, at least two more Half-Life games might be on the way and it seems that they’re already in development.
The claims come from respected industry insider Tyler McVicker, who has often made claims and predictions for a number of Valve titles. McVicker also claimed recently that The Elder Scrolls 6 from Bethesda, won’t release until 2026.
The two rumoured games in question both have codenames: one is reportedly called “Citadel” a name that actually began making the rounds back in 2019. The other codename is “HLX”, and from what I can tell, this one is new.
The report from McVicker was teased on his Twitter account (with details locked behind his Patreon).
“Oh God, Valve is working on 2 Half-Life games following up on Half-Life: Alyx….. I AM EXCITED!” said Vickers in a tweet.
According to Vickers, Citadel is an RTS with multiplayer elements, while less information is known about HLX. The abbreviation for the latter does have the Half-Life initials and the “X” could represent Alyx, so could this be a sequel to the VR game?
I hope that HLX is the non-VR version of Half-Life: Alyx that so many fans have been calling for. Personally, I would be one of the millions delighted to see Half-Life: Alyx on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S.
Heck, in an ideal world we would see both a VR and non-VR version of Half-Life: Alyx release for PC and consoles.
At this time this is all hearsay and speculation, so we must take this information with a pinch of salt until proven otherwise. However, let us know your Half-Life hopes and dreams across our social media channels!
Featured Image Credit: Valve