Half-Life 3: Will We Ever Get A Sequel?

Beware of spoilers ahead for the ending of Half-Life: Alyx.

For the longest time, it seemed as though a true Half-Life sequel was entirely off the table. After Half-Life 2: Episode 2 ended on a cliffhanger way back in 2007, the series went quiet for over a decade. 

There were occasional rumblings of the next chapter, including a proposed Episode 3 and another installment titled Return to Ravenholm. However, these also eventually fizzled out. There was even a real-time strategy spin-off of the Half-Life series that was similarly quietly canceled. To this day, Valve hasn't issued any kind of specific statement regarding why these two chapters were canned.

The final nail in the coffin seemed to come when Half-Life writer Marc Laidlaw left Valve in 2017, after which he posted a short story that seemed to tell his version of how Half-Life 3 would have played out. When a former creator for the franchise is having to resort to fan fiction in order to complete the story for fans, that's not exactly an encouraging sign. It seemed that the Half-Life franchise was well and truly finished.

However, all of that seemingly changed with the release of Half-Life: Alyx. Valve's new VR game told a side story within the Half-Life universe, following the exploits of Half-Life 2 supporting character Alyx Vance. It was around the release of this game that Valve began speaking more openly about possibly continuing the franchise somehow. 

In an interview with Game Informer, developer Robin Walker said, "There are also people on the team for whom Half-Life: Alyx is their first time working on this series at all – and many of them certainly hope it's not the last. We absolutely see Half-Life: Alyx as our return to this world, not the end of it."

This seems to be backed up the ending of Half-Life: Alyx, which sees the titular character seemingly time-traveling and altering the ending of Half-Life 2: Episode 2. It certainly seems as though Valve has an idea of where to take the story next and is more keen than ever to make it actually happen. 

It's highly likely that we'll see Half-Life 3 some day in the future. Hopefully we don't have to wait another 13 years for the next installment.