Half-Life 3 may be presented as early as 2025 — insiders

The beginning of 2025 brought a new wave of rumours that the endless wait for Half-Life 3 is finally coming to an end. Now, in the code of the latest Valve game updates, references to a project with the internal name "HLX", which most fans believe to be Half-Life 3, have been found. Apparently, the game may be in the final stages of production.

Ars Technica writes about it.

What references to Half-Life 3 were found by data miners?

In a recent video, renowned Valve researcher Tyler McVicker analyses in detail the large number of variables and lines of code found in the new Dota 2 update (the first since mid-December). According to him, the data obtained indicates "optimisation and polishing", which usually occurs at the end of game development.

"It does feel as if Valve is nearing completion of the production of HLX," McVicker comments.

The same updates include a file called AI_baseNPC.fgd, which is not used by Dota 2 but is full of references to Half-Life (for example, references to "machine" and "alien blood"). In particular, changes to the file allow the engine to change the degree of simulation of NPC Artificial Intelligence depending on the distance to the player. McWicker considers this to be pure "optimization" — another sign that HLX is in the final polishing stage.

In addition, the February update of Deadlock introduced a new variable "hlx_fsr3_min_reactivity", which may indicate the use of AMD’s FidelityFX Super Resolution (FSR) enhanced image scaling technology in the project. According to McWicker, this indicates that HLX is indeed nearing release, as FSR is usually integrated when most of the basic work on a game is already complete.

These recent revelations in Valve’s engine are especially encouraging for fans after reports that Half-Life 3 had already reached the testing phase with friends and family of the developers in late 2024. While in the past, various Valve projects may have experienced relaunches even after similar tests, McWicker claims that the latest code updates confirm that HLX has successfully made it through the winter holidays and doesn’t look like it’s on the verge of another rework. On the contrary, the announcement is getting closer every time.

McWicker also describes the updated physics, which probably continues the Half-Life 2 mechanics, but in a much more advanced form — the engine can track buoyancy, flammability, deformation, fluid simulation, and dynamic sound of objects depending on their state.

The most interesting thing is the possibility of a "mood system" for NPCs in HLX. According to rumours, it will be able to control the reactions of characters to everything they see, hear, or even smell in their environment. There is also a hint of "dynamically changing navigation grids" in the code, which will allow NPCs to avoid destroyed obstacles in real time. Another notable feature is the ability to place objects randomly on levels, similar to the "director" in Left 4 Dead.

As a reminder, Xiaomi is actively testing the WinPlay feature, which is designed to run computer games on the company’s tablets. The company is currently looking for owners of Xiaomi Pad 6S Pro to test the new technology.

We also wrote that Nintendo has officially released the long-awaited game console Switch 2, which features a new black design and improved specifications. Its price and release date have also been revealed.