For years there has been speculation about the release of Half Life 3, which has become a meme. Now that Half Life Alyx is out, Valve has opened up about what happened to the series.
The documentary Half-Life: Alyx – Final Hours was released on Steam a few days ago. The documentary promised " an unprecedented, unvarnished look inside the last decade at Valve ." It includes a look at multiple canceled projects, one of them called Half-Life 3, plus concept art for Alyx and other extras.
Valve canceled Half Life 3 and Left 4 Dead 3
What is most striking about the documentary is that they detail that a complete Half-Life 3 was developed. It was briefly, between 2013 and 2014. Valve wanted to combine the procedural stage generation with a certain linearity to make the game more replayable. This idea was inspired in part by Left 4 Dead, which offers a procedural position of the zombies on fixed maps. However, it was eventually canceled because the Source 2 engine it was initially being developed on was not finished.
There were also a couple of Half-Life-themed virtual reality projects, including one that fits the Episode 3 synopsis leaked by writer Marc Laidlaw. According to an IGN report in the documentary, at least five Half-Life series projects were proposed and then scrapped between the release of Episode 2 and Alyx. These other canceled projects included an open-world Left 4 Dead 3, an RPG inspired by The Elder Scrolls and Dark Souls , and a voxel game in the style of Minecraft. There was also "Vader," a virtual reality headset concept that would have sold for $5,000.
In the documentary it is seen that the majority of the team wants to make a new Half Life. But they have doubts about whether Valve wants to take on a project of that magnitude or whether it will continue to focus on virtual reality for the foreseeable future. But the possibility is at least on the table.
Source: PC Gamer