‘Half-Life 3’ Still Languishing in Development Limbo

Back in May 2006, Valve's Half-Life 3, or Half-Life 2: Episode Three, has been announced as the third and final installment in the series of episodic expansions, the last episode in the story arc that began on November 19, 1998, when the first Half-Life game was launched. Since making that announcement, nothing much has been heard about the concluding final chapter to the Half-Life saga. Instead, Valve Corporation has released sequels to as well as original new games, including Dota 2, Alien Swarm, The Orange Box, Ricochet, Deathmatch Classic, Left for Dead 2, Portal 2, Portal, Day of Defeat: Source, Team Fortress 2, and Counter Strike: Global Offensive.

Consequently, Half-Life 3, or Half-Life 2: Episode Three, has become the gaming industry's most infamous case of continuing 'vaporware,' having been announced to the general public as upcoming but is either never actually manufactured nor officially canceled. In an interview with Washington Post in January 2014, Gabe Newell sort of explained why Valve can't just "crank out new Half-Life sequel" now. He said: "When we started out we were a single-player video game company that could have been really successful just doing Half-Life sequel after Half-Life sequel, but we collectively said let's try to make multi-player games even though there's never been a commercial successful multi-player game."

A first-person shooter game, the Half-Life series follows a storyline revolving around main protagonist Gordon Freeman, described as a theoretical physicist initially employed by the fictitious Black Mesa Research Facility. Many fans have expressed frustration with Valve's lack of communication about the future of the series through online protests and petitions. After all, they have been left hanging from the proverbial cliff following the climactic ending of Half-Life 2: Episode Two, with Gordan Freeman and his friend and ally Alyx Vance being ambushed just as they are about to leave for the Borealis in an old helicopter.