The European trademark filing which appeared to confirm Valve was working on a new iteration of its celebrated Half-Life first person shooter has disappeared from the registry, it has been revealed.
Just last Wednesday, fans were given hope that Half-Life 3 was in finally in development after a six year wait, when the trademark application was discovered online.
However, Valve failed to confirm the speculation and following the disappearing act first noticed by the Valvetime fan site, it now appears as if the post may have been a fabrication.
As other sources reported last week, the application filed with the European Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market was not replicated in the US Patents and Trademarks Office - a further sign it was a hoax.
Demand
The removal of the application, which listed Valve as the owner of the property, is unlikely to quell speculation that another sequel could or should be on the way.
It may actually see demand for a new game reach such levels that Valve will struggle to get away with not making one.
However, the developer is keeping itself plenty busy with its recently-announced SteamOS, Steam Machines living room games consoles and Steam Controller, which all launch to the public in 2014.
Via Polygon
