Leaks suggest that the game is playable from start to finish.

Half-Life 3 may finally be real. According to new rumours, Valve’s long-awaited sequel is now "playable, end to end" and could be announced this summer, with a release planned for winter 2025.

As first reported by Engadget, Tyler McVicker, a content creator known for data-mining and unearthing information on Valve, Bethesda, Rockstar, and more shared the update during a livestream Q&A in April.

Playable from “end to end”

He claimed the current project, codenamed HLX, has gone further than any previous Half-Life 3 attempt. The game is not a VR title like Half-Life: Alyx and is reportedly already in a polished state.

"This is the furthest (HLX) has ever been. Period," he said. "The game is playable end-to-end. Period. [Other HL3 projects have] never been that far. And they're optimising, polishing, and they're probably content-locked, and if they're not, then they're mechanic locked."

McVicker also addressed the procedural generation rumours. Unlike earlier speculation, HLX will not feature terrain generation or roguelike mechanics. Instead, it uses a system similar to Left 4 Dead’s AI Director to dynamically adjust elements like enemy placement, items, and NPCs. The story itself remains fixed.

"The way Valve is going about that is akin to taking the [AI] Director from Left 4 Dead 2 and making it significantly more powerful. It's not changing geometry. It's instead changing entity placement, right [like] doors, physics props, enemies, items… [etc.]”

He added that the game is being widely tested and that leaks are more likely now than ever. McVicker said he avoids discussing story details, though he did say: "I actually do think [Portal's] Chell may turn up in Half-Life 3."

Half-Life 3 was previously in development sometime around late 2013 to early 2014. That version aimed to be a procedurally generated, replayable game that blended Left 4 Dead-style action with scripted narrative sequences. However, the project was scrapped as the Source 2 engine was still incomplete at the time.

The codename "HLX" has surfaced more recently, indicating that development may have resumed alongside Valve’s other title, Deadlock. In August 2024, McVicker uncovered files suggesting a new Half-Life project is being developed, alongside Deadlock.

In the same year, another rumour recently surfaced, with a voice actor hinting that Half-Life 3 could be in production by placing “Project White Sands” in his resume, before eventually removing it altogether.

Although Valve has not officially announced or confirmed anything, Half-Life 2’s 20th anniversary has fuelled speculation once more. And even if it doesn't release in 2025, the signs of a return for the franchise seem to be stronger now than they’ve been in years.