It Looks Like ‘Half Life 3’ Could Be Announced Very Soon

A lot of teases and leaks over the holiday period seem to suggest that Half Life 3 could be announced in the coming weeks, or at the very least this year.

While supposed leaks of Half Life 3 are nothing new, a couple have popped up over the last few days that seemingly have a little more credibility than most, with one coming directly from someone you would expect to be involved with the project.

The first signs of movement on the Half Life 3 front came a few days ago when Valve insider Gabe Follower, who has previously correctly reported on Deadlock before it became public, revealed that a build of Half Life 3 was being tested internally at Valve along with friends and family of the developers.

Along with multiple updates that could maybe hint at a new game in the Half Life series but seem somewhat coincidental, Gabe Follower claims to have heard from a source within Valve that a playtest has begun for Half Life 3. These closed playtests are nothing new for Valve, we know they did them for Half Life Alyx and Deadlock long before they were announced, and they were a key factor in the rework of Deadlock’s visual style.

The other big tease that Half Life 3 could be coming soon is that Mike Shapiro, the voice actor for G Man in the Half Life Series, just posted a new video that is seemingly teasing something to do with the franchise. The tweet includes the hashtags #Valve #Halflife #GMan #2025, suggesting that something Half Life related is coming this year.

If this were any other voice actor, then you might think this could just be a coincidence or a new year’s message, but Shapiro has been silent on X since the release of Half Life Alyx, so it would certainly be a very random tease out of nowhere if there wasn’t something behind it.

My gut is saying that we can probably expect some news on Half Life 3 at some point in 2025, but a lot could ride on the playtests that are seemingly ongoing. We’ve seen these playtests result in big changes to Valve games in the past, so if things are not going smoothly, it could delay the project even further.

However, what doesn’t seem to be in doubt is that Half Life 3 is clearly being worked on at Valve and there is at least some kind of playable build. Providing said built isn’t terrible, I’d assume we’ll be playing Half Life 3 in the next two or three years at the latest.