Valve developer, Mike Morasky, has let slip the alleged codename for Half-Life 3–again.
Fans may want to keep their expectations in check, but Half-Life is once again showing promising signs of life.
During a conference titled Valve's Approach to an Open and Flexible Audio Engine, composer and programmer Mike Morasky let slip the codename “HLX”, which the community has linked to a potential new Half-Life game.
The mention came during a Q&A session, when Morasky was explaining Valve's HDR system: “Deadlock has their own version of HDR, HLX has its own version, and so on and so forth,” he said.
David Feise, another Valve developer, immediately turned to him and whispered, “Nice work”, in an apparently sarcastic response, to which Morasky let out a nervous laugh. At the end of the panel, Feise referred to the slip-up again, remarking, “Good job, you only said HLX once.”
The comment might refer to the fact that Morasky had previously come close to mentioning HLX publicly. While he managed to cover up the previous slip-up by correcting himself and saying “Alyx”, this time there was little room for doubt: he had clearly mentioned “HLX”. The developers' reactions have fuelled further speculation that this is more than just a theory–Valve might actually be working on the project.
What is HLX, and how is it connected to Half-Life 3?
The codename “HLX” first surfaced in Counter-Strike data in 2024. Since then, journalists, gaming outlets and leakers have discussed it as a project reportedly in development at Valve and potentially linked to the Half-Life franchise.
Although HLX has not been confirmed as the codename for Half-Life 3, to be exact, reports and rumours have repeatedly linked the two. The theory also seems plausible, given that Half-Life: Alyx initially used the codename HLVR.
In the months following the discovery of HLX, further references to the codename began appearing in Valve's game files. Despite the limited information available, many fans anticipated that Valve would finally announce Half-Life 3 at The Game Awards that year.
Of course, that never happened.
More Half-Life 3 rumours continued to surface in following months, including one where the game was "already in a polished state" and was reportedly launching in winter 2025, which again, didn't happen.
Nearly two years have passed since HLX first emerged, and there have been no official progress since. The Half-Life 3 rumour mill gradually died down, but thanks to Morasky's latest slip-up, however, the buzz has been reignited. It even lends fresh credibility to the speculation, particularly given that the hint came from a Valve employee himself.
Is Half-Life 3 in development?
With Morasky's mention of “HLX”, a Half-Life project (presumably Half-Life 3) could indeed be in development, though no official announcements have been made.
Valve is known for experimenting with ambitious projects and is not afraid to scrap or shelve them if they fail to meet its internal standards. This approach is also part of the reason Half-Life 3 never materialised as expected.
In a two-hour documentary (which celebrates Half-Life 2 as part of its 20th anniversary), Valve co-founder Gabe Newell described the failure to deliver the next instalment as his “personal failure”. He explained that he did not want to create another episode simply because fans expected one.
The original Half-Life launched in 1998, introducing the revolutionary first-person shooter, survival sci-fi experience. A sequel followed in 2004 with Half-Life 2, which was subsequently expanded through Episode One in 2006 and Episode Two in 2007. However, the third episode never arrived, leaving the story on a cliffhanger that has remained unresolved for nearly two decades.
Valve's surprising return to the franchise in 2020 with the full-length VR game Half-Life: Alyx confirmed that the series was not dead after all. Although Half-Life: Alyx was a prequel, its ending dramatically changed the original cliffhanger from Episode Two. Nevertheless, plenty of mysteries remain unresolved, and fans are still wondering whether they will ever discover how Gordon Freeman's story ends.
For now, Morasky's latest slip-up has provided one of the strongest reasons yet to hope that Valve may finally be preparing to continue the saga.
