Earlier this year, Valve reporter Tyler McVicker claimed that a Half-Life 3 trailer had entered production, and could be released as early as November, but the month flew by without any official news. Other insiders soon corroborated McVicker’s claims, explaining that they had been told several different dates and that it was still planned for 2025, though they refused to reveal these dates fearing that Valve was trying to weed out leakers.
With the company now on holiday for the festive season, and The Game Awards over (though, it was always incredibly unlikely that it would be announced there), it’s safe to say that we won’t see Half-Life 3 until 2026 now, but why is that? Well, according to Insider Gaming senior editor Mike Straw, we have AI to thank.
If You Want Someone To Blame For Half-Life 3 Not Being Announced, Blame AI
“Everything I have, everybody I’ve talked to, are still adamant this is a game that will be a launch title with the Steam Machine,” Straw explained. “There is a concern however that they haven’t made a decision on price, which is kind of holding back the announcement of anything else. And the reason is because of PC RAM, memory prices, and storage prices right now. They are up 200, 300, to 500 percent of what they were in October, and it’s only getting worse.”
The reason that memory has shot up in price to such an extent that PS5s are now cheaper to buy than some sticks of RAM is because manufacturers are moving their production away from consumers towards AI companies to help build their data centers. Specialists such as Uniway Computers store manager Mark Chen have likened this shift to the cryptocurrency boom, which saw graphics cards skyrocket in price, though it will only worsen in the case of RAM as demand continues to soar.
In light of this, Valve reportedly chose to delay Half-Life 3’s announcement as it focuses on nailing down the pricing of the Steam Machine, though Straw said that he still expects the hardware and Half-Life 3 to launch in Spring 2026, so it appears that only the reveal has been delayed thus far. But it’s unclear when we’ll find out more about the Steam Machine, let alone the flagship sequel that fans have been waiting decades for.
The concern now is whether the hardware will be delayed as Valve waits for prices to stabilise or even drop, which could impact Half-Life 3’s release date, possibly explaining why the team abandoned plans to unveil it in 2025. A public delay for Half-Life 3 would be deeply embarassing after this long a wait, and it’s hard to imagine fans taking it well.
Whatever happens, as Straw says, the game is real. Half-Life 3 does exist, and it’s further along in development than any past iteration. And according to leakers like Gabe Follower, it even survived the Winter playtests without any major delays, unlike Alyx, which underwent drastic rewrites.
“There’s no denying it,” Straw said. “It’s just when, and not if, at this point. All the signs pointed to it being announced some time in December, then everything hit the fan.”
- Released
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November 19, 1998
- ESRB
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M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Language
- Publisher(s)
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Sierra Studios
- Engine
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goldsrc, source
- Multiplayer
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Local Multiplayer
