Half-Life 3 release date news, update: European GDC announcement in August?

Half-Life 3 alleged logoValve

The last installment under the Half-Life game title, "Half-Life 2: Episode Two," came out eight years ago and thus, leaving fans questioning whether there would be a "Half-Life 3."

Recently, rumors regarding the game's development have surfaced after a Half-Life 3 logo, shared over the internet, went viral and caused people to question Valve, creator of the Half-Life franchise, Counter-Strike and Left 4 Dead, whether the game is already in development. Several news portals, such as Yibada, have also reported that the game's release would be announced during E3 (Electronic Entertainment Expo), which was held last June 16-18.

However, Valve representatives came out and declared that the company did not release the logo. In addition, Valve did not show up during E3 and thus, leftl fans disappointed. More importantly, no announcement for the release or development of Half-Life 3 was made during the time period.

Although unlikely, some argue that the announcement will be made on Aug. 3-4 during the European GDC or Game Development Conference. Valve has remained quiet and has made no releases regarding the issue except for the game creator's, Gabe Newell, statement released a few months ago. "The only reason we'd go back and do like a super classic kind of product is if a whole bunch of people just internally at Valve said they wanted to do it and had a reasonable explanation for why they did," Newell said in a podcast by Geoff Keighley.

The only clear fact, at the moment of writing, is that Valve is developing the Source 2 engine, which was started in 2012, to replace the current one that was developed back in 2004. Valve announced the new engine's release last March 2015. "Given how important user generated content is becoming, Source 2 is designed not just for the professional developer, but enabling gamers themselves to participate in the creation and development of their favorite games," said Valve representative, Jay Stelly , during the announcement.