Half-Life followers have waited years for Valve to do… one thing Half-Life 3 associated. That’s nothing new. However latest weeks have seen a step up within the hunt for clues, with some believing Valve has already began an elaborate alternate actuality sport (ARG) that can lead to the dramatic affirmation that Half-Life 3 is lastly on the best way.
This subsequent degree obsession, which GTA 6 followers will discover immediately acquainted, was kickstarted by Mike Shapiro, the voice actor behind Half-Life’s mysterious G-Man. Late final yr, in full G-Man mode, Shapiro revealed a cryptic tweet teasing some type of information for 2025 alongside the tags #Valve, #Halflife, #GMan, and #2025. It was Shapiro’s first non-reply tweet since he congratulated Valve on the success of VR unique Half-Life: Alyx again in December 2020.
That was sufficient to ship the rumor-mill into overdrive, however since then all types of untamed theories have emerged throughout the Half-Life neighborhood. Some who’ve analyzed Shapiro’s tweet to inside an inch of its life imagine he has began an ARG for Half-Life 3, connecting the dots in such a manner to lead them to the final word prize in video video games.
Half-Life followers obsess about numbers. Valve, famously, can’t depend to three. However can it depend to 197? It seems that Shapiro’s X/Twitter publish contained pictures of the duvet artwork of his new track, Best Long Dog. Buried inside this picture is the quantity 197. Weird!
Greatest Lengthy Canine is three minutes and 17 seconds lengthy, aka 197 seconds lengthy, due to course it’s. Oh, and it got here out 197 days after his earlier track, Magnetic North. Bizarre!
Right here’s the place the Half-Life neighborhood actually steps up to the plate. Some followers theorize 197 is a reference to gold, or, extra particularly, its secure isotope 197Au. That is Half-Life, in spite of everything! What’s gold received to do with something? GoldSrc, pronounced “Gold Supply,” is the unique Half-Life engine. Ultimately it was changed by the Supply engine, however the hyperlink is evident. Oh yeah, gold solely has a single secure isotope, which suggests 197Au is the one gold isotope with no half-life.
The plot thickens. 197 seems thrice in relation to Shapiro: within the cowl artwork of his track, within the size of the track, and within the days after the discharge of his earlier track. Thrice! Might 197 trace at a date? Some assume so. Maybe it’s July 19?
Now we transfer on to fellow Valve sport Counter-Strike 2, and what some imagine to be hints at Half-Life 3 within the sport. Keep in mind we informed you Shapiro’s track is known as Greatest Lengthy Canine? Valve renamed the Popdog hallway in map de_train to “Longdog.”
There’s a lot extra to this obvious ARG, together with much more numbers and individuals drawing strains within the snow. However the lengthy and in need of it’s that Shapiro’s tweet, combied with adjustments to Counter-Strike 2, mysterious references to a canine and the quantity 197 are fuelling some of the popcorn-worthy neighborhood obsessions since GTA 6 followers began analyzing phases of the moon.
(*3*). “I feel we’re so starved with actual data on our beloved HL3 (and even the notion of Episode 3) that we’re actually seeing indicators the place there are none,” they stated.
“Sure Shapiro’s publish is unquestionably main, and there possibly one thing coming. However breaking down each bit of information and discovering the 197 and making an attempt to join it’s simply… lunacy.”
Formally, Half-Life 3 doesn’t exist, regardless of the story ending on a cliffhanger with 2007’s Half-Life 2 Episode 2. In November, to mark Half-Life 2’s twentieth anniversary, Valve opened up about its improvement in a documentary that exposed never-before-seen work-in-progress footage, a brand-new Ice Gun, and a raft of latest idea artwork. You’ll be able to see the gameplay section from the documentary within the video beneath.
Among the many particulars proven within the video, Episode 3 would have been set within the Arctic, and it will have targeted on Alyx as a companion character. Other than the Ice Gun, the footage exhibits a blob-like enemy that would cut up into a number of components. In accordance to the documentary, the workforce had accomplished a “assortment of playable ranges in no specific order” and anticipated to give you the chance to launch the sport inside a yr or two.
Valve has lots on its plate already, after all, together with ongoing help of Counter-Strike 2, Dota 2, Steam itself, the Steam Deck, and new sport Impasse. Might it even be engaged on Half-Life 3 alongside all these different tasks?
Wesley is the UK Information Editor for IGN. Discover him on Twitter at @wyp100. You’ll be able to attain Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.