I’m playing Episode One and Two for the first time, having replayed Half-Life 2 on my newer computer.
Anyway, did we ever get an answer why Valve, apparently, stopped working on Episode Three? I mean, they have not released Half-Life 3, so what happened?
Any official response? Any solid rumors from employees, etc.?
They stopped working on it!??! WTF??! I thought it was just horribly delayed but they stopped!!??
That’s the sound of a dude who is now frantically searching Half-Life wikis and fan sites. Just FYI.
They’re too busy printing money on Steam.
Supposedly they ARE working on it, but Steam, I’m sure takes priority. They should focus on the platform, and outsource their games… Actually, they do that already, but for some reason they are keeping Half-Life 3 close to their chest.
WTF??!..
WTF has three letters, ??! is three pieces of punctuation.
Half-Life 3 confirmed.
They’ve published several games since Ep. 2. So its not like they have some philosophical bent against making new games. And I can’t imagine there’s too much overlap between game developers and Steam developers, so I’m not sure the “focusing” argument makes sense (plus, Steam is a pretty mature product at this point anyways). And the whole point of the “Episode” format was to release new instalments quickly, without the long lag associated with full-blown sequels.
It’s weird.
Nearly 6 years after Half Life 2: Episode 2 I’m beginning to wonder if Episode 3 is just vaporware. As for Half Life 3, if we ever see it I’ll be surprised.
Since the whole point of the Episode format was a rapid release cycle, its pretty clear that they’ve abandoned the idea, and that there will never be an Episode 3.
On the other hand, I can’t imagine Valve has abandoned their flagship franchise. The most likely conclusion is that “Episode 3” suffered from mission creep, and reached the point where Valve decided to go ahead and turn it into a full “Half-Life 3” game in its own right.
There being no plan for “Half-Life 3,” it in fact IS vaporware.
It’s possible but rather unlikely. Valve tends to really takes its time with the notable exception of Left 4 Dead 2. TF2 took about a decade to make yet it’s worked out rather well. It’s very difficult to believe that Valve would give up not only one of its best franchises but the one which was its breakthrough.
I have a friend at Valve, and the company culture there is certainly… unique. People have the freedom to basically work on whatever projects they want, and nobody is seriously picking up the Half-Life ball right now. It sounds absurd, but my friend has no motivation to lie to me, and apparently it’s as simple as that.
Note that this is all made possible because Valve have literally more money than they know what to do with. The newest thing is that they’ve hired a bunch of personal trainers to work with their staff full-time, and that was like a trivial expense for them.
According to the official Valve wiki, the projected release date for HL2Ep3 is “Coincident With the Rapture”.
So, soon.
So when the Bioshock Infinite DLC that lets you play in Rapture comes out? Cool! 
cough
HL3 != HL2E3
Most people use them interchangeably now – probably due to (admittedly unfounded) rumors that Valve is skipping Ep 3 and just making HL3 instead and that’s why it’s taking so long.
HA! I know a few Christians that going to be mighty mad.