Half-Life 3 ‘is real’ and a Steam Machine launch game claims insider

An insider claims Valve’s long-rumoured Half-Life 3 will be released alongside the new Steam Machine next year, after a no-show at The Game Awards.

After Final Fantasy 7 remake and Shenmue 3, Half-Life 3 is one of the last gaming holy grails yet to come to fruition, but a growing number of rumours over the past year suggests it is going to happen.

Rumours of Half-Life 3 have existed for decades, but the volume of them has increased exponentially over the past year – with some last month claiming an announcement was imminent, following the reveal of Valve’s new Steam Machine.

As we approach the end of the year, and after The Game Awards, Half-Life 3 still hasn’t been announced (in case you hadn’t noticed), but insiders are still adamant that it exists. More notably, one journalist claims it’s set to launch alongside the Steam Machine next year.

Speaking on the Insider Gaming podcast, editor Mike Straw claimed different insiders and leakers were initially told different dates regarding Half-Life 3’s reveal, in order to snuff out who is leaking information, but now all those dates have passed.

Straw says he didn’t report the date he was given because their source wasn’t ‘100% confident’, but despite the rumoured dates all passing, everyone he’s spoken with is ‘still adamant’ that Half-Life 3 is a launch title for the Steam Machine.

‘Everything I have… everyone I’ve talked to, is still adamant this is a game that will be a launch title with the Steam Machine,’ Straw said. ‘There is a concern, however, that they haven’t made a decision on price, which is kind of holding back the announcement of anything else.’