Despite rumored leaks and hints about the survival horror first-person shooter video game “Half Life 3,” the game is still far from development. The statement came no less from Gabe Newell, co-founder of Valve Corporation, the development company behind the “Half Life” franchise.

In a recent statement issued by the Valve Corporation top honcho, he said that he was actually caught off guard by the level of interest of gamers on “Half Life 3.” However, he said that the game is still not yet in development at this time or anytime soon, details the Christian Today.

With such statement from Newell, then it is likely that the mysterious file in the “Dota 2” update released recently did not officially come from an official Valve Corporation channel but from someone inside the company who may just be teasing anxiously waiting and anticipating gamers of “Half Life 3.”

Another hint of “Half Life 3” was dropped not through a logo of the game or something or a tease on some blogs or website, but through a mysterious file that came with the latest updates to the multiplayer online battle arena video game “Dota 2.”

Players of “Dota 2” were actually surprised to receive an unknown text file as part of their game’s regular updates. The mysterious file seems quite suspicious because it has a file name of hl3.txt.

As hl3 in Valve’s lingo only means “Half Life 3,” game enthusiasts believe that the file is an intentional hint of the game developer to say that it is now working on the development of the highly-anticipated video game.

When the file was opened, it actually contained various references such as squads, VR technology, VY movement, and Chaperone, which are all possible allusions to “Half Life 3.”

The text file also mentioned of ziplines and Combine pulse ceiling Turret which indicate that “Half Life 3” may contain “The Combine” in its plot, details Ars Technica.

With such features, the outlet actually believes that “Half Life 3” is going to be so great if and when it finally comes out in the future.

However, with the statement from Newell, it seems that the game would be in development eventually but it will not be happening anytime soon.

Possible release date

There have been reports in August that a former employee of Valve Corporation confirmed that the game developer has calendared the development of “Half Life 3” sometime in the future.

Based on the disclosure made by a supposed former employee of Valve Corporation, “Half Life 3” will be released after the multiplayer zombie shooter video game, “Left 4 Dead 3,” is finally rolled out to the video game retail markets.

Critics placed the possible release date for “Half Life 3” as any time from the fourth quarter of 2017 up to the first quarter of 2018.

The revelations of the alleged former employee of Valve Corporation are a welcome relief to anxiously awaiting fans of “Half Life 3” because it actually debunked previous rumors that the game will no longer be developed.

“Half Life 2” was released way back in 2004, with its final installment having been released some three years later. If “Half Life 3” is indeed to be released late in 2017 or early 2018, then fans and gamers must have waited between 13 to 14 years for its next installment to arrive.

Intentional delay

Previous reports came out stating that the development of “Half Life 3” was intentionally delayed by game developer Valve Corporation to give way to “Left 4 Dead 3” which is also in its stable.

The disclosure actually came from a former employee of Valve Corporation who said that the earliest that “Half Life 3” can come out on the PlayStation 4 and the Xbox One is in late 2017