Fresh leaks suggest Half-Life 3 development may be nearing completion

Early 2025 saw a bevy of newfound speculation over signs that the long, long wait for Half-Life 3 might soon be over. Now, data contained in some new Valve game updates suggests that the project known in Valve engine code as "HLX"—and widely assumed to be Half-Life 3—might be reaching the final stages of production. In a new video, longtime Valve watcher Tyler McVicker goes into detail on a bevy of new variables and strings found after spending hours datamining the latest update to Dota 2 (the first update for that game since mid-December). The strings suggest a wave of behind-the-scenes Source engine changes dealing with the kind of "optimization and polish" that "happen[s] at the end of a game's production cycle," McVicker says. "This is getting to the point where it does feel as if Valve is nearing completion of the production of HLX." Tyler McVicker goes over all the new datamined evidence that "HLX" development is wrapping up. Those changes include a set of new code in a file c ... Read full article.