Half-Life 3 will still be announced in 2025, Insider claims

In late October, Valve reporter Tyler McVicker claimed that a trailer for Half-Life 3 was due for release in November. Shortly after, others came forward and seemingly confirmed the rumors, claiming that a main announcement was coming.

However, most of them didn't hint at Half-Life 3, but instead the Steam Machine, Frame and Controller, a trio of Valve's new hardware. Still, amid the buzz around the blocky PC console, many insiders said they've also heard rumblings of a Half-Life 3 announcement on the horizon for 2025, sparking the community's most fervent week since 2019.

Fans latched onto the news and cooked up all sorts of theories, speculating that 'HLX' would be announced on November 18th, the anniversary of Alyx's reveal and the start of an unusually dry spell on the Steam store. That day has come and gone, so new theories have surfaced that it will be announced on the anniversary of the first Half-Life; again, that date has come and gone.

22 days into November, every single theory is flying around, and the community's faith in these rumors is starting to wane. However, we're still five weeks away from the end of the year, and according to Insider Gaming Senior Editor Mike Straw, the trailer is still coming.

“I Got A Date I Was Told About”

“I have a date that I've been told, but I haven't been able to verify it from multiple sources, and there's a history of Valve doing these things called 'canary traps.' They give different people different dates to try to guess who's talking,” Straw said on the Insider Gaming podcast. “I've seen it before. They did it with Half-Life: Alyx. A lot of people reported different dates because [Valve] he fed the dates differently. I will not report the date until I have physical confirmation that it is a real date and not a canary trap.”

Everything I was told was this year. I was told that this year.

One of the main theories we discussed throughout November is that Valve will reveal Half-Life 3 in a showstopping reveal at The Game Awards next month after what appear to be cryptic jokes from Geoff Keighley. However, as Straw noted, Keighley does this: “There's a trend in games, and he posts some random sample of what's trending to create hype for his own cause.”

Several leaks, insiders, and reporters have emphasized that Half-Life 3 at The Game Awards is incredibly unlikely. Valve, like Rockstar, likes to do its own thing. “It would be very surprising if not [Keighley’s] I got into talks with Valve last week to have Half-Life 3 revealed at The Game Awards,” Straw explained. “If it's going to be at The Game Awards, I could see Valve doing it, announcing it before then saying, 'Hey, we're going to show more at The Game Awards.' I don't see it being announced at The Game Awards.”

Straw also says he hasn't heard “anything” about the drop of shadow.

Various leaks from a wide variety of beats that cover PlayStation, the wider gaming industry and specialize in Valve are adamant that a Half-Life 3 announcement is still on track for 2025. It certainly looks like we're in the home stretch. So don't give up hope just yet – there's just over a month to go and we'll soon find out.