Well, Valve and Half Life seem to have be in the news in some form or another over the past couple weeks or so and this one seems to be the most genuine and the most depressing. In a post on the Valve Time forums, one user shared a screenshot of a brief email conversation he had with Gabe Newell in regards to Valve’s presence at E3 this June and his response reads as follows:

“We are not announcing anything at E3. Really. We are not announcing Half-Life 3 or Portal 3 or Left 4 Dead 3. We are going to be showing stuff everyone already knows about (CS:Go, Dota 2, 10′ UI, …)”

Quite surprising and yet not surprising at all. When news came out that Valve had reserved their own private booth, people immediately assumed that they would be revealing something new; whether it be a new game (SOB?) or a game that people have been waiting for for nearly the last five years. Valve, and Newell himself, have pulled a bait and switch… and then switch again with their “surprise” appearance during Sony’s press conference at E3 2010, so it’s not too hard to believe that they won’t throw the audience a little something this year. On the other hand, this is Half Life. Odds are, it will only see the light of day when everyone has agreed to move on from expecting a next installment to the series.

In that case, Episode 3/Half Life 3 (whatever it’s called) will be revealed in about twenty five years or so. However, E3 isn’t the only event of the year and there’s a lot of 2012 left for a possible hint or even an announcement. Half Life 3 would be an event in of itself, so it could just be revealed on just about any day of the year and have the same effect, but that’s not really Valve’s MO. Unfortunately, there is not much left to say on the subject (speculate on your own if you wish, though I don’t advise it), so I leave you with the same line that Valve time left their readers, for it is the only thing that makes any sense to say here: “Sorry guys. There’s always 2013. And hey! Valve has to learn to count to three by then, or they’ll be stuck in the year 2012 forever… Right?”

- This article was updated on:March 8th, 2018