Half-Life: Alyx could be the start of a true Half-Life series revival. Though the Portal games are set in the same fictional universe, it's been more than 12 years since a full-on Half-Life game has come out, and fans could be forgiven for assuming they'd never get a chance to revisit its story of invading aliens and plucky human resistance. Valve revealed the first trailer for Half-Life: Alyx yesterday, and though it looks very much like the closest thing we'll get to Half-Life 3, further Half-Life games could follow in its wake.

Fans should indeed expect more after this, Valve programmer David Speyrer told The Verge .

"Yes. It’s probably no surprise that many people at Valve have been wanting to get back to the Half-Life universe for a long time, and this experience has only reinforced that," Speyrer said. "In the process of creating Half-Life: Alyx, we’ve had to explore new ways to tell stories with these characters and this world, and we’ve discovered a lot of new gameplay experiences that go beyond what we’ve been able to do before. Of course, we’ll have to wait and see how people react to Half-Life: Alyx once it’s out, but we’d love to continue pushing forward."

Wait, does that mean… actual Half-Life 3 might happen? I'm going to keep assuming that it's an impossibility, just so I have the chance to be pleasantly shocked if and when Valve decides to pick the story back up from the tragic ending of Half-Life 2: Episode 2. Speaking of which, Speyrer recommended players complete Episode 2 before starting Half-Life: Alyx. So even though it's a prequel, it looks like it will expand our understanding of the overall story.

That G-Man teaser at the end of the Alyx trailer makes me suspect we'll finally learn more about how the interdimensional bureaucrat interacts with people aside from Gordon Freeman (though I bet ol' Gordon will always be his favorite pawn). Half-Life: Alyx will come to VR-ready PCs in March 2020, so if you have the setup, you won't have to wait long to find out yourself.