LogInAt the same time, key data miners who supplied most of the HLX information warn that the project's announcement date is still unknown.
Move over, GTA 6 – there's a new most-anticipated video game winning over the hearts and minds of gamers worldwide, and its name is Half-Life 3.
That's right, after more than five years of rumors surrounding the elusive triquel – including the past year and a half that gave us the most notable leaks and data mines and brought the game back into discussion – the Half-Life 3 hype has seemingly reached its apotheosis, with half the internet now seemingly believing the game will be announced within the next 24 hours and the other half pretending to believe just to join in on the fun.
Over the past week or so, a number of events – fueled by the speculation over the past 18 months I mentioned earlier – have led many to believe that the game most have long abandoned hope for is on the verge of being launched.
Some of these events include Valve announcing a new hardware lineup, Half-Life 2 celebrating its 21st birthday last Sunday, Half-Life 1 celebrating its 27th birthday tomorrow, Valve listing a hidden game in its "Upcoming Releases" section on Steam, and Mike Straw, Senior Editor at Insider Gaming, responding to all the commotion with the comment, "It's happening soon enough," implying Half-Life 3's official announcement.
Some fans have pushed the speculation even further, noting that the crowbar image on Half-Life 2's 20th Anniversary page is labeled "crowbar3" in the Inspect Element and taking this as confirmation of Half-Life 3 (hopefully as a joke, because if not, this level of desperation is honestly quite sad):
While the hype is undeniable, and it seems many gamers genuinely believe Valve will deliver the most historic gaming moment of 2025 – possibly of all time – by the end of this week, the two data miners who have contributed most to the HL3/HLX discussion with their findings and insights urge the community to stay levelheaded and temper their expectations so as not to get disappointed if no announcement comes by November 19.
One of them, Tyler McVicker, reiterated three times that while the HLX project is indeed real, there is currently no known announcement date. The current rumor, he says, is that the game will be announced in 2025, but based on his wording, it seems like even that may easily end up not being the case.
The second data miner, Gabe Follower, also suggested that we might not see any announcements tomorrow/today, delivering the hint in a slightly more humorous way:
Bloomberg's Jason Schreier has also chimed in, taking to Reddit to explain that his prediction back in early January about Half-Life 3 launching in 2025 was just that – a prediction – and wasn't based on any inside information. "I have no idea whether or not Half-Life is being announced this year," he commented.
And what about you, what are your thoughts on all the Half-Life 3-related buzz? Will it be the case of "nothing ever happens" or "nothing ever happens...until it does"? Was GTA 6 postponed so that two of the most anticipated video games ever don't have to compete with one another? Share your thoughts down in the comments!
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