Half-Life 3 teased by Gabe Newell at Valve Index launch party

Image credit: Valve (Image credit: Valve)

Half-Life 3 has once again been teased by Gabe Newell – this time at an event celebrating the launch of the Valve Index VR headset.

We’ve been waiting for Half Life 3 for a long time now (Valve’s last game in the series, Half-Life 2: Episode 2, was released back in 2007), so any potential news of the much-anticipated game will surely excite anyone who’s keen for closure on Gordon Freeman’s story.

Newell, who’s the co-founder and president of Valve, said at the launch that “Milestones aren’t really the end of anything, they’re really the beginning. So Half-Life led to Half-Life 2, Source led to Source 2, the experiments that we did with Team Fortress 2 were what enabled us to build Dota… So, maybe someday the number 2 will lead us to that shiny integer glowing on a mountain someplace… we’ll just have to see.”

Now, that’s not concrete evidence that Half-life 3 is being made, and Newell is known for cheekily referring to Valve’s long-absent game, but at TechRadar we’re ever the optimists when it comes to the likelihood of eventually seeing (and playing) Half-Life 3.

Plus, Newell wouldn’t be so cruel as to keep raising our expectations and then dashing them again just for a joke… would he?

Wire-free Valve Index

At the event, Newell also hinted that the company is looking at ways to make a wireless version of the Valve Index headset. 

“We are looking at several methods of doing an untethered Valve Index," he said. "We have a lot of ideas for kind of revolutionary things to do with the display and optical technology, and lots of opportunities to continue to improve.”

Using the launch of a product to tease a potential upgraded future version, as well as a much-hyped game, isn’t particularly conventional, but then Newell has never much cared for conventions. Let’s just hope that we may see Half-Life 3 one day, at least.

Matt Hanson
Managing Editor, Core Tech

Matt is TechRadar's Managing Editor for Core Tech, looking after computing and mobile technology. Having written for a number of publications such as PC Plus, PC Format, T3 and Linux Format, there's no aspect of technology that Matt isn't passionate about, especially computing and PC gaming. Ever since he got an Amiga A500+ for Christmas in 1991, he's loved using (and playing on) computers, and will talk endlessly about how The Secret of Monkey Island is the best game ever made.