Half-Life 3 Will Never Release, Here's Why - Anonymous "source"

Well, it looks like "The Know" has a source in Valve which gave them this information. The video just came out earlier today and the reasons are pretty much what I expected them to be. (btw - there is a cuss word here or there in the video)

Long video short - Valve has been raking in so much profit from CS : GO, Dota 2, and TF 2, in addition to the fees included with steam transactions, that there's really no monetary reason to get Half-Life 3 released. Valve is a private company also, and there's no investors pressuring them to make "x" amount of more dollars.

The second reason cited is because the game has been incredibly hyped for so long, Valve doesn't want to release anything less than a perfect game. If it cant get an 11/10, they're not going to risk it. They think the backlash for anything less than absolutely perfect would cause too much harm to the company as a whole.

......however, they also say the game has been in basically early stages of development for some time, but employees have been taken out of the project to work on other thing. Currently, they say the story is pretty much written and there's 10 people still somewhat working on it.

As for the anonymous source..... "The Know" has a moderately or mostly good track record with these kinds of sources/speculation. Dark Souls 3 was the last good example that I can recall.

To me, it still seems like there's a bit of hope, but im not really holding my breath. Then again, I do rate Valve as one of the best game developers out there to date, and wouldn't be surprised if they pull a fast one and come out in a week or 2 and say "Haha, jokes on you. All that speculation a few weeks ago? It was all a plan. HL 3 confirmed!" or something like that.

a reply to: buni11687

Gabe Newell has been pretty blunt in saying there's no plans for a 3rd game. He's gone so far as to argue that the episodic release of add-ons for HL2 was HL3 and that was pretty much the end.

Of course, this is Gaben we're talking about and he's been known to say one thing while intending to do the complete opposite, so who knows?

a reply to: buni11687

All I can say is this.

Computer games are an art form. Writing them well is an art form, creating virtual spaces and characters which help drive a narrative by their quality, is an art form. If one cannot do these things for the sake of the art, then one should not be doing them at all.

That is not to say that money spinning franchise games are all tosh. That just is not true, and one only has to look at the quality of titles like GTA5, for instance, to see an example of a very big game, from a very big franchise, which also appears to have been written and crafted to perfection, entirely in keeping with the origins of the franchise, but having a life of its own.

Half Life is a story which remains unfinished, a plot which remains unresolved, and while that remains the case, there will be a legitimate argument to be made, that says the game ought to be finished. Half Life, even today, is one of the most talked about games, one of the most influential games of its time, and is still relevant to the way games are made. I personally think they would be doing themselves a disservice if they fail to bring Half Life 3 to fruition as a project.

You also have to bear in mind, the fan service angle. This year, after about eighteen years of waiting, we finally get to salivate over the announcement that a Final Fantasy 7 remake/update is in the works, after what I would imagine would have been constant badgering on the part of the fandom. Even if there are no plans for HL3 at the moment, save for a small team fiddling with the concept, you can bet your bottom dollar that it WILL happen, because of demand more than anything else.

Great Opening thread, great explanation, well written and well done.

If everyone wrote as much when linking a video this place would be a great experience.

Half life was to hard for me, no great loss.

a reply to: buni11687

To me, it still seems like there's a bit of hope, but im not really holding my breath.

I believe HL3 will happen at some point and when it does it will likely be released shortly after it's announced as seen with Fallout 4.
Sir Gabe of Newell dropped a subtle hint at E3 this year that all is not lost in the hope for HL3.

But you know if you want to do another Half-Life game and you want to ignore everything we’ve learned in shipping Portal 2 and in shipping all the updates on the multiplayer side, that seems like a bad choice. So we’ll keep moving forward. But that doesn’t necessarily always mean what people are worried that it might mean.
www.lazygamer.net...

I don't think it's about how much money Valve are making I believe Newell would want to make something truly special and groundbreaking to end the Freeman's story.

The only source I'll believe that says no HL3 will be Valve.

Ha.

When it comes to HL3 I don't trust anything out of anybody's mouth.

Least of all Gabe.

And the reasons given in the OP are mostly BS IMO. No financial incentive?

HAHAHAHAHAHA

SteamOS coming out, the Steam controller as well, that would be an amazing launch program. Being that HL is basically their flagship product, I'd be very surprised if the game isn't done already and just sitting there getting polished.

Now, you're right about them having a good track record and all with their info, but I can't believe ( and maybe that's just my fandom talking) that Gabe would abandon his most successful series and really one of the most awaited games of all time.

At heart, Gaben is still a gamer, even if recently he's been a bit distracted by all the benjamins.

~Tenth

After reading the replies, it looks like the consensus come down to...... Lord Gaben! (me included)

Seriously though, he's a great guy and is truly talented.....(and can pull a quick one on us). I don't trust much of anything he says, because it's more than likely a ruse and he's playing us. He knows how to play us gamers, but will also deliver and astound us with something we never saw coming.

As tothetenth said, he is still a gamer, just like us. He knows us all too well (I wish more game developers were like this), and knows the strings to play. Like I said with the "Jokes on you....blah blah blah" part , Im getting ready to be hit with something I didn't see coming from Lord Gaben.

Nevertheless, even if nothing comes from this HL3 video, Valve will always be at the top of my favorite game developers list. The only other company that rivals it is Bethesda.

a reply to: buni11687

Half-Life 3 has the potential to make Valve more cash monies than GTA-V did for Rockstar. So i would not be to supprised if its released sometime next year, no matter what Anonymous claims.

originally posted by: tothetenthpower
Ha.

When it comes to HL3 I don't trust anything out of anybody's mouth.

Least of all Gabe.

And the reasons given in the OP are mostly BS IMO. No financial incentive?

HAHAHAHAHAHA

SteamOS coming out, the Steam controller as well, that would be an amazing launch program. Being that HL is basically their flagship product, I'd be very surprised if the game isn't done already and just sitting there getting polished.

Now, you're right about them having a good track record and all with their info, but I can't believe ( and maybe that's just my fandom talking) that Gabe would abandon his most successful series and really one of the most awaited games of all time.

At heart, Gaben is still a gamer, even if recently he's been a bit distracted by all the benjamins.

~Tenth

This!

I would not write of a Half-Life 3.

a reply to: eriktheawful

And to add to that thought.

The Source Engine is due for a major upgrade/overhaul in the next couple of years.

It would be the PERFECT game to show it off, like they did with HL2.

~Tenth

i haven't played a console based game in years. never played half life or its sequels, but the video is right: some very outspoken gamers are jaded and super picky now. it doesn't help that negatively themed stories, forum posts and videos, get more traction and thus more views. on youtube, more views = more money in ad revenue. so now there is a large group of negatively themed video game videos, raking in the views and the money on youtube.

there's also the fact the money to be made in DLC (downloadable content), has caused alot of controversy amongst gamers, like the infamous Francis (warning foul language)



or the equally infamous Angry Joe, who makes an excellent point:



the video game industry is under more scrutiny than any other kind of business, as far as i'm concerned, and gamer-critics, are making money off of that, whether justified or not.

a reply to: undo

Well as both a member of the PC Gaming Master Race, and a Console Peasant, I can understand a bit where gamers are coming from.

there's also the fact the money to be made in DLC (downloadable content), has caused a lot of controversy among gamers, like the infamous Francis (warning foul language)

This only really became an issue because of Day 1 DLC and Day 1 Patches. Basically buy our 70$ game and then spend another 70$ to give you the same content that people who paid 20$ more for the special edition. Day 1 patches are always problematic because it proves that the developer did not do their due diligence and released an unfinished game.

Now both of those problems are usually the fault of the publisher, putting pressure on the studio to finish games quicker than they can be done.

the video game industry is under more scrutiny than any other kind of business, as far as i'm concerned, and gamer-critics, are making money off of that, whether justified or not.

Well it's only been in the last 5 or 10 years that gaming has become the most profitable industry in entertainment. It surpasses the movie and music industry now. Big changes were always on the horizon after this fact became clear and over the next 5 or 10 years we are going to see those changes start to come out.

A lot of it will be trial and error by the industry to maintain the high profit margins while trying to produce ever increasingly expensive and time consuming projects. The average development cycle for a game has gone from 6 months to in some cases 2.5 years.

But it's really publishers that are ruining gaming. Look at most titles released in the indie market or through crowd funding, where no publisher was necessary and see that very clear difference in quality.

And the whole YT market for Twitch and people making money off ads etc, is being driven primarily by the failure of the publishing market to come to terms with what I've stated above.

~Tenth

a reply to: tothetenthpower

i'm just pointing out that a major reason for the rise in picking apart video games and screaming it from the rooftops, is related to the fact those doing so, are actually making money of it, so they are looking with magnifying glasses, for even the slightest goof up (in their estimation) and blowing it out of proportion. not saying that DLC is a good idea, not saying that releasing unfinished games is a good idea, just stating the facts: as long as there is lots of money to be made with bad press, there will be video game reviewers picking apart everything, including any sequels for famous games.

a reply to: undo

just stating the facts: as long as there is lots of money to be made with bad press, there will be video game reviewers picking apart everything, including any sequels for famous games.

Ah Okay, that got lost in translation some how.

But you're right, just like political pundits make money hand over fist on any given news channel on any day that ends in Y, the same is true for gamers at the moment.

~Tenth

a reply to: tothetenthpower

famous game reviewers are actually joining forces to add credibility, viewers and impact to their rants. for example, these fine fellows, who actually went to this much trouble just to review a PATCH of warlords of draenor (the newest expansion of world of warcraft). a patch is like a mini modification, to adjust the game expansion and advance its storyline. these guys are trying to control and manipulate the gaming environment, not just by critiques, but they've figured out they can make money AND ruin entire games in this fashion.

a reply to: buni11687

I remember gaming journos saying that The Last Guardian will never happen. And now it's happening.

The problem is that it's been almost a decade since the last installment, First person shooters have changed a lot since then- Bioshock and Bioshock infinite, Deus Ex HR, Borderlands, Prey and Farcry have changed the game-literally. As good as Half life 2 was, the linear shooter doesn't quite cut it anymore and the storytelling has progressed as well.

It's too late IMO-which is sad because I really want to know who G-man is.

a reply to: Thecakeisalie

It's too late IMO-which is sad because I really want to know who G-man is.

A fallout-esque type game for HL3 is probably a better idea than a linear shooter. Although the puritan in me wants it to be just like HL2 was.

MIND YOU, linear shooters still do very well. COD and Battlefield have you on a rail the whole time and the multiplayer experience is what bridges the short fall between the short single player.

HL2 was pretty long though, relatively.

Gabe often makes a joke that he pushes back HL3 every time somebody makes a joke like 'Gabe can't count to 3' and the last interview I saw he said "see you in 2036 HL fans" lol

Obviously he's kidding but it must be super annoying to have nothing but HL3 questions all the time.

~Tenth

The current engine is still so good but I'd like to see a HL3 CS3