Valve has yet to confirm it is working on Half-Life 3, but company boss Gabe Newell appears to have provided an update on the project. Speaking to Seven Day Cooldown in a podcast interview, Newell said unexpected development issues have kept the studio from opening up on the game. Valve is intentionally keeping gamers in the dark about Half-Life 3...err...Ricochet 2.

After asking for a status update for a game all Valve fans have been clamoring for, the interviewer queried Newell, "When can we expect the release of Ricochet 2?"

Newell laughed at this, and spoke of Ricochet 2, a title not likely in development, and more believably a code name for Half-Life 3.

"In terms of Ricochet 2, we always have this problem that when we talk about things too far in advance," Newell said, "we end up changing our minds as we're going through and developing stuff, so as we're thinking through the giant story arc which is Ricochet 2, you might get to a point where you're saying something is surprising us in a positive way and something is surprising us in a negative way, and, you know, we'd like to be super transparent about the future of Ricochet 2."

Newell added that Valve's silence on Half-Life is actually in the best interest of gamers.

"The problem is, we think that the twists and turns that we're going through would probably drive people more crazy than just being silent about it, until we can be very crisp about what's happening next," he said.

Laughing at the continued referencing of Ricochet 2, Newell said, "Nope. Everybody who's been working on Ricochet 2 continues to work on Ricochet 2."

Valve developed the original Ricochet, which was released in 2000. It is a futuristic action game presently available for $5 on Steam.

The most recent Half-Life game was 2007's Half-Life 2: Episode Two. That game advances the story of previous entries Half-Life 2 and Half-Life 2: Episode One. A third episode was planned, but has not seen the light of day.