The community suspects that Valve may have orchestrated a Game-of-Thrones-style scheme to catch leakers.
November 18, 19, and 20 came and went, and as Valve continues to remain silent about any games they may or may not have in the works, the Half-Life 3 hype that had consumed the gaming community for the better part of the month has started to die down, with "HL3 hope" many have memed about crushing against the despair of reality.
For context, after over a year of intense rumors about Valve working on a mysterious HLX project – assumed by most to be a codename for Half-Life 3 – the speculation reached its peak earlier this week, when many began believing the game might actually be announced on November 18 or 19, citing "evidence" such as Half-Life 1 and 2 celebrating their anniversaries, Valve announcing a new hardware lineup, Geoff Keighley posting an eyes emoji on Twitter, and the crowbar image on Half-Life 2's 20th Anniversary page being labeled "crowbar3" in Inspect Element.
As the aforementioned dates passed, the mood on social media shifted from fun and celebration to a more serious tone – though I use that word loosely, about half of the conversation is still just memes – with fans speculating about the actual date when the game might be announced.
Mike Straw, Senior Editor at Insider Gaming, weighed in, reaffirming that the only concrete release window he had been told was 2025 and noting that while one of his sources did give him a specific date, he couldn't verify it with anyone else, and therefore preferred not to disclose it.
Straw's revelation has sparked speculation that Valve could be orchestrating a Game-of-Thrones-like scheme behind the scenes, giving different insiders random dates to catch leakers.
Whether that's true or not, it seems that even if some of the reliable insiders do have the actual release or announcement date on hand, a secret of this magnitude would likely remain undisclosed until the official announcement arrives – partly due to the risk of being caught as a leaker by Valve, but mostly out of professional courtesy.
To summarize, as of right now, only Valve knows for sure if and when HLX will release, with even the 2025 announcement window cited by data miners and journalists not without its doubts. Assuming that window is correct, the gaming industry's most historic moment could arrive within the next 41 days – so if there's one thing we can say for certain, it is that December 2025 is shaping up to be a wild ride no matter what happens.
Don't forget to check out 80 Level's new digital art courses, subscribe to our Newsletter, and join our 80 Level Talent platform, follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn, Telegram, and Instagram, where we share breakdowns, the latest news, awesome artworks, and more.