Ewan is Deputy Editor for ScreenRant's gaming section and former Editor of GAMINGbible
Have fans of any video game series suffered more than those poor fools waiting for news on Half-Life 3? Speculation about a third entry has always been there in the background, but with the impending release of the Steam Machine, that speculation has reached fever pitch.
All eyes were initially on The Game Awards for a big reveal, and when that didn't go to plan, fans started to look elsewhere to convince themselves Half-Life 3 is on the way. Now, I've seen a lot of theories in my time, but this latest might genuinely be my favorite. Not because it's particularly convincing, to be clear: just because it's so wonderfully stupid. Half-Life 3's Latest "Tease" Is The Best Yet Oh Freeman where art thou? Earlier this month, Steam held something called Steam Detective Fest, which was a fun limited-time promotion focused on mystery games. There were deep discounts and tons of demos for games like Blue Prince, Heavy Rain, and Rise of the Golden Idol. The only real downside to this promotion was that some poor soul might accidentally end up with Heavy Rain. Incredibly, fans are convinced Valve was knowingly trolling Half-Life 3 truthers with the artwork for Steam Detective Fest. The promotional banner featured an evidence board with various black-and-white photographs. One of those photographs is simply the number three. That was it. One fan on the always-entertaining Half-Life subreddit wrote:"Not gonna lie, that three is really sus."Now, I do think that the good people at Valve are aware of the power of putting a random number three in promotional material. I think they are absolutely aware of what that's going to do to people at this point. I also do believe Half-Life 3 is coming and will probably be announced this year. So does that make this a teaser for Half-Life 3? It kind of does, actually? God help me, I'm one of them. Half-Life Fans Have Suffered, It's True But you're not done yet Can Half-Life 3 even live up to the hype after all this time? To be fair, Half-Life: Alyx is proof enough that Valve still has the sauce when it comes to developing games, and is a great sign that a third Half-Life would absolutely deliver. I have to say, I'm only recently a Half-Life 3 truther, and I hopped on the bandwagon at a time when it's become very apparent that something is coming. Subscribe for sharper takes on Half-Life 3 and gaming Cut through the Half-Life 3 rumor mill—subscribe to the newsletter for curated analysis, thoughtful context, and clear takes that separate hype from likely reality. Also get the same careful coverage of other major gaming stories and trends. Subscribe By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime. To all those that have been clinging to the dream of Half-Life 3 for the last few decades, I have nothing but respect for you. I hope that you will be rewarded for your suffering soon.Powered by Expand Collapse
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