In some huge gaming news,?? ??? ?? ?? rumors suggest that Valve Software’s long-dormant Half-Life 3not only exists — it’s playable from start to finish. And if the leaks are to be believed, the company could be gearing up to announce it later this year.

As always with Half-Life 3rumors, skepticism is warranted. The latest report comes via Valve insider and longtime leaker Tyler McVicker, who teased a series of pointed hints during a recent livestream. According to McVicker, the information surfaced because the game is now in such wide playtesting that some testers have started talking.

The claims track with previous speculation from last summer, including McVicker’s own datamining of recent Valve code drops. Additionally, in February, datamining sleuths uncovered code references to “HLX” buried in update files for Valve’s upcoming MOBA-style game Deadlock, adding further speculation that something Half-Life-related is in active development.

"This is the furthest [HLX] has ever been. Period," McVicker said during the stream. "The game is playable—end to end. Period. Other HL3 or Episode 3 projects never got that far. They’re optimizing, polishing. It’s probably content-locked, or at the very least mechanic-locked."

Still, until Valve breaks its silence, treat this like every other Half-Life 3whisper over the past 15 years: with cautious optimism. Based on the details provided by McVicker on stream, this Half-Life 3is not to be confused with Half-Life 2: Episode Three, an announced sequel to Episode Two way back in 2007.

Development on Half-Life 3reportedly began around 2013 or 2014, with a 2020 leak suggesting the game would have featured procedurally generated level design — an approach McVicker reaffirmed during his recent Q&A session.

Either way, something’s moving inside Valve. If it does launch, it would mark the first mainline Half-Lifeentry since Episode Twodropped in 2007, and the first release in the franchise since the 2020 VR-exclusive Half-Life: Alyx.