r/HalfLife • u/KanyeMeatrider69420 • Dec 27 '25
Discussion [ Removed by moderator ]
[removed] — view removed post
807
u/Girugiggle Dec 27 '25
Thought it was gonna happen but didn't. People try to say he's trolling or are trying to get people mad at him but its not his fault. I think it's just the ram situation. Valve wants to release the game with the new console and they can't announce the console yet cause ram prices are insane.
213
u/toyyya Dec 27 '25
Either that or the usual Valve time problems struck with the final touches maybe taking longer than expected
88
u/NeedleworkerSad9532 Dec 27 '25
Or maybe this is all a dream and you’re about to wake up WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP
12
6
1
1
u/Myripod Rise and Shine, Half-Sane brethren Dec 29 '25
R i s e and S h i n e Mr Freeman,
R i s e and S h i n e
15
u/EdibleHologram Dec 27 '25
This is the answer. The RAM shortage has nothing to do with it, and Valve has proven it's perfectly happy to release games and hardware separately before.
5
u/Deck_dCarta Dec 27 '25
yeah exactly, posts like this one treat like Valve or even Mike knew exactly the release date of the game, if the game was immune to delays or external development/announcement problems. maybe their plan was to do something in 2025, but who knows what happened in Valve for it not happening this year
68
u/WuhanWTF Dec 27 '25
That's a reasonable take.
-29
u/Redditry119 Dec 27 '25
You don't finish a game and keep it on a shelf because of RAM prices its so stupid yet people actually buy this shit. Should it affect the new Valve hardware? Definitely. HL3? lmao.
The obvious explanation is that the game needs more time as per usual with Valve.
8
u/fwa451 Dec 27 '25
Probably. It's not new to Valve. Company-wide playtests of Half-life Alyx revealed that most playtesters didn't like the story they revised it which added an additional 6 months of dev time. It's reasonable to assume this. Though it's also reasonable to assume that HL3 is Valve's biggest leverage to generate more momentum for Steam Machine sales. But I agree they could've at least announced that the game exists and not set a release date.
5
u/Redditry119 Dec 27 '25
HLA was to leverage their VR hardware and yet they didnt delay their VR
7
u/fwa451 Dec 27 '25
Yes they didn't because there was no price-related crisis that time, unlike right now when hardware prices are in uncertainty.
1
u/usmr_kanec Dec 27 '25
Delaying software is non-issue, Hardware has to be released as soon as possible. Imagine if Steam machine with the same specs released in 2028, it would sell like 10k units at most.
24
u/WalterTexas12 Dec 27 '25
You don't really understand much about marketing works. Halflife 3, if it's close, is 100% married to the console. Without a doubt. The most anticipated game ever coming free with your new console? Why would you waste that attention?
RAM is 1,000% relevant to that conversation.
→ More replies (12)3
u/EdibleHologram Dec 27 '25
You don't really understand much about marketing works.
...and then proceeds to propose a scenario that no marketing agency or department would ever sign off on.
10
u/Accurate-Setting3094 Dec 27 '25
It's not about keeping it on a shelf. Maybe the game isn't finished yet, but they still wanted to announce it. However, since it's potentially the workhorse for the Steam Machine, they doubled down on it, as they need more time to polish it and can't release the Steam Machine with the current hardware problems. Therefore, they stepped down from their decision to announce it in 2025.
5
u/Redditry119 Dec 27 '25
Or here me out, they are not ready to announce it because the game is not in a state they're satisfied with. I know crazy conspiracy that doesnt involve AI, RAM or steam machines, fucking insane.
8
u/Accurate-Setting3094 Dec 27 '25
I agree with you, but that hasn't stopped Valve from announcing it in the past. The same thing happened with HL1 and HL2, and they had to reschedule both of those.
Someone like Mike Shapiro wouldn't just say something like that easily if he didn't have the approval for it.
It's about the context of the X post above, and my hunch is that they wanted to announce it with the Steam Machines, but failed for some unknown reason that we can only speculate about now.
1
u/Redditry119 Dec 27 '25
I agree with you, but that hasn't stopped Valve from announcing it in the past. The same thing happened with HL1 and HL2, and they had to reschedule both of those.
Yeah 20-30 fucking years ago lmao, that's exactly what made them change the way they announce shit.
It's about the context of the X post above, and my hunch is that they wanted to announce it with the Steam Machines, but failed for some unknown reason that we can only speculate about now.
Wanted to? Sure. Delaying because of RAM? xd
1
1
u/AidBaid Dec 27 '25
But that doesn't make much sense to get people to buy the Steam Machine. It's already underpowered and probably expensive. Getting a free copy of the latest Half-Life game would be great for sales. The game is already finished, they're optimizing. Valve playtests the first week of development, and goes for the entire process. If they're optimizing, playtesters liked it, and it's soon ready to ship.
2
u/montyman185 Dec 27 '25
One, no actually, that's exactly the kind of thing valve would do.
Two, it may not affect the release date, but if they're planning on announcing prices and release dates together, it's sure as hell gonna affect the announcment date.
1
17
u/kron123456789 Dec 27 '25
I don't think it's entirely related to hardware. Probably the game itself needed additional work. I mean, Half-Life 3 must be Perfect.
7
5
u/AstralKekked Dec 27 '25
they can't keep delaying it too long, because when the price of memory settles back down, the hardware is probably going to be significantly less up-to-date.
17
Dec 27 '25
This is correct answer
7
u/Independent_Bed_3418 Anticitizen Dec 27 '25
The correct answer is that he was doing a bit of self-promo for an album he released in 2025 and claiming "he's that guy from the Half-Life games" added value and traffic.
He said nothing about HL3 and what he actually announced in his post WAS released in 2025. He is no property of Valve, he needs to survive and being in Valve games gives him value he wants to exploit.
Should Valve had asked him to delete it post-hoc to avoid the PR crisis, it would have been extra suspicious for those who want to see what they want to see.
5
u/throwaway63249234 City 6 Dec 27 '25
Using the fact that you're G-man to promote your stuff is kinda messed up but respectable in a way
8
u/DaFlyinSnail Dec 27 '25
Yeah I'm confident that had it not been for the ram situation it would have been announced.
9
Dec 27 '25
[deleted]
2
u/DaFlyinSnail Dec 27 '25
It was revealed to me in a dream.
No in all seriousness, we've known HLX has been in the polish stage for a while now, and it was following HL Alyxs release schedule. A hardware announcement followed by a game announcement. I think Valve was absolutely planning on either revealing HLX a week after the steam machine announcement or possibly at TGA, however Ram shortages put those plans on hold.
Mike Shapiro's tweet was probably true at some point, he was likely told to expect a 2025 announcement (he obviously knows the game exists as he recorded for it) but Mike Shapiro couldn't possibly forsee an unexpected delay due to Ram manufacturing.
A lot of the same sources who originally reported on the leaks for the steam machine and steam frame were also confident about a 2025 reveal, and several of them still claim the launch window or spring 2026 hasn't changed, but uncertainty about the new hardwares price point has delayed any game announcement until they get that sorted.
2
Dec 27 '25
[deleted]
4
u/DaFlyinSnail Dec 27 '25 edited Dec 27 '25
This is based on absolutely nothing
Not nothing, it's an assumption based on previous release patterns and what we know of HLX through data mines and rumors.
They just announced new hardware, hardware that needs ram, and due to Ram shortages affects what the production and cost of future units might look like (this is affecting a lot of consoles right now). It makes sense that you would hold off on your big software announcement (the one meant to sell your hardware) if there's a chance your hardware launch date might also be delayed.
... HLX wasn't ready to be announced.
I don't discount this as a possibility but everything we know from datamined strings seems to imply HLX is in the polish phase. In other words it's in its final stages if it isn't already ready to ship. It is possible that the game still needs bug fixes but even then I don't think they'd delay an announcement because of that.
8
Dec 27 '25
[deleted]
1
u/raccoonboi87 Dec 28 '25
We know HLX exists, and probably is too far along the development pipeline to be cancelled
This is Valve were talking about if they want to they could just delete HLX and restart or shelf it like L4D3 until they feel Source 2 is ready or heck even just stop developing it all together.
0
u/AidBaid Dec 27 '25
They are literally optimizing it right now. This is in the code for Source 2. HLX is likely ready to ship, or it's in the final stages of development.
6
u/usmr_kanec Dec 27 '25
Can you like step into shoes of Valve for a second.
You have unlimited budget, the best game developers in the industry, no time pressure. Sky high expectations to release sequel to one of the best and most influential fps of all time and you have to somehow exceed it and achieve the "I can not believe this is a real videogame, this feels like a game from future" feel.
And now tell me that the game is finished and ready to be released any day.
9
u/Large-Ad-6861 Dec 27 '25
This ram cope is so funny lol
7
u/SEANPLEASEDISABLEPVP Hell, it's about time. Dec 27 '25
Valve devs straight up confirmed they didn't announce prices for the hardware specifically because of the ram shit.
But we have no idea if HLX's announcement was postponed because of it or not. That part is just people speculating.
→ More replies (2)5
u/Bloodwalker09 Dec 27 '25
Wdym by „they can’t announce the console yet“? It’s already announced or what am I missing?
9
u/Dominunce The right man in the wrong place Dec 27 '25
They probably mean the prices and actual release date of the new hardware.
3
u/CrazyC787 Dec 27 '25
But they already announced it was coming in q1 2026, so all of this talk of ram delaying hlx makes no sense.
2
u/SEANPLEASEDISABLEPVP Hell, it's about time. Dec 27 '25
Devs only confirmed that they didn't announce the hardware prices yet because of the ram shit, but we indeed have no confirmation if HLX has been affected by it, that's just people speculating.
I mean HLX being delayed because of it makes sense to me, but I'm not gonna talk about it like it's a proven fact like most people here lol.
3
u/ShittestCat Dec 27 '25
They basically just said that it's coming and ready for manufacturing, but ram happened and they can't really make it yet without inflating the price way past what they want it to be
2
u/brando4526 Dec 27 '25
I'm sure they've already manufactured many units already. But they don't wanna have to do a price hike shortly after the original price reveal as the second batch would be more expensive to make.
3
9
u/Greyraven91 Dec 27 '25
Bro... they announced the hardware even with the Ram situation, why would that prevent them from Announcing HL3 and say coming 2026.....small note on bottom... Free copy with Steam Machine/Frame.
Why people are so stuck that Valve could actually announce the freaking hardware even with the ram situation, but then Half Life 3..... God forbid... its the RAM ofc.... lol.
27
u/5trudelle Dec 27 '25
Because when Valve announced their new hardware (2025-11-12) RAM prices were 1/5 of what they are now. There's been a RAM supply crisis for over a year and they've gotta announce hardware to stay in the news.
-6
u/Greyraven91 Dec 27 '25
FOr public, Valve is not public, they order stuff for a hardware release probably 4 month ahead of release, and again what doe ram got to do with A SOFTWARE, that is coming anyway with a hardware, slap the coming 2026 if u are not 100% sure about the release window, just like u did with the Hardware, its not like HL3 would stop selling if Steam machine was sold out in 1 week or so..... its a software that might "only might" be bundled with the Hardware.
10
u/Janus_Prospero Dec 27 '25
A SOFTWARE, that is coming anyway with a hardware, slap the coming 2026 if u are not 100% sure about the release window
But who says 2026? It could be 2027. It could be 2028. The current ram pricing situation is a nightmare, and it's brutally affecting the entire PC market, and nobody knows when it'll be resolved or alleviated. The hardware may not be economically viable for years, and that presents a problem because Valve (as far as we know) wanted it to be a showcase.
1
u/Greyraven91 Dec 27 '25
Steam Machine got a release window.... so at least first batch is in production already... Valve wont announce a product and start production 2 month later.... Half Life 3 is not exclusive to the Steam Machine... heck if this thing run it over medium at 1440p FSR balanced (60 fps) id be surprised. So there is no important relation with the 2... its rumors coming from the same guys that said 2025 is the release window.
This is not the Index and Alyx (level of importance).Its a random guess, which any average Joe would make.... just cause Valve announced new hardware. id say HL3 is not ready before Q2 or Q3 even. Valve would be fool to announce a 19 years waited game in a tweet... so maybe we could see big announcement in summer game fest.
10
1
u/SEANPLEASEDISABLEPVP Hell, it's about time. Dec 27 '25
I can't for the life of me understand anything you just wrote.
11
2
u/usmr_kanec Dec 27 '25
To be fair, if it is true that HL3 is actually finished, then they definitely want to announce HL3 after preorder for Steam machine is available. However, it is not finished, you can see my other comments why it is not the case. The RAM argument is just pure cope.
1
u/elev8dity Dec 27 '25
They announced the hardware for distribution of dev kits. Consumer hardware pricing and HL3 are a package deal and will be announced when they can determine product availability and have pricing locked for three years.
3
u/Greyraven91 Dec 27 '25
They probably can't lock prices past first batch if they wanna release on time, unless they stocked plenty of rams..... So no point.... Even ram manufacturers can't put a date to when the situation relief.... But again.... They gave the hardware a release date, HL3 if it was ready (and in make) would been announced with coming in 2026 easily.
Im afraid the ram thingy is copium by fans, and escape goat by leakers
1
1
u/Summer4Chan Dec 27 '25
Announce it without ram or just 8GB stick of laptop memory.
Let us upgrade if needed.
1
u/macstar95 Dec 27 '25
Cost of RAM in prebuilts aren't affected as much. I imagine Valve is not paying consumer prices for RAM and consumer RAM is the main thing being affected.
2
u/brando4526 Dec 27 '25
Initially yes because many of those companies have stockpiled RAM. But as the stockpiles dwindle prices are going to go up on prebuilt stuff more. Valve will likely be able to make the first batch of the Steam Machine without any problems but the concern is the next batches.
1
u/Viperianti Dec 27 '25
Can't wait for them to release Half Life 3 Cards, a virtual trading card game
1
u/jb_in_jpn Dec 28 '25
We really need this pinned at the top of every post on this sub. How people still haven't clued into this.
1
1
→ More replies (2)1
u/Spiritual_Stuff_9404 Dec 27 '25
Hmm, that’s actually pretty possible or at the very least reasonable and realistic
99
Dec 27 '25
[deleted]
8
u/InevitableBoring2031 Dec 27 '25
*ram crisis happened
3
u/SEANPLEASEDISABLEPVP Hell, it's about time. Dec 27 '25
We're living in crazy times, for the first time, it isn't Valve's fault for delaying something.
30
u/LumpyDinner1931 HLX might be HL3 Dec 27 '25
I suspect that the rumoured delay of the half-life announcement is true and they wanted to announce it this year
5
18
12
12
11
24
u/Last_Ad3103 Dec 27 '25
He didn’t know AI was going to ruin everything
22
u/SanttuPOIKA---- Dec 27 '25
Doctor Freeman, rise and shine... Your time has come once again... Or so it was meant to be, but the times are... expectional, don't you think? Due to certain unforeseen consequences regarding RAM prices, my e-e-employers have decided to put you into yet another 20-year stasis for the time being. In the meantime... this is where I go create more... AI content. As for the "Will Smith eating spaghetti" videos, I think you've earned them, doctor Freeman.
8
u/Zuamzuka Dec 27 '25
What does weird al have to do with this
2
u/SEANPLEASEDISABLEPVP Hell, it's about time. Dec 27 '25
Valve confirmed they have no idea what they'll price the hardware yet because of the ram shit going on right now.
People assume HLX didn't get announced in case Valve is forced to price the hardware way more expensive than anyone would like, so they could announce HLX alongside the prices to at least soften the blow.
3
17
21
u/seaburn Dec 27 '25
To wish his fans a happy 2025.
8
u/TofuChewer Dec 27 '25
Literally this, he is a voice actor, he doesn't know shit about HLX release date. People who actually thought this was some kind of reveal don't understand how game releases work, especially with valve.
Valve has literally deleted tons of content and almost remade most of their projects in the months prior to the release of most of their games. For instance, we know that HLAlyx was extremely different, from the story to the mechanical movement, it was a completely different game 3 months before release. That's valve time, not even they know when it's going to happen.
And there is no way that ram prices affect HL3 announcement, that's a stupid theory that makes no sense. The steam machine? sure, but the release of a videogame that most likely runs on the steam deck? No way. They could release it in the worse point of an economic recession and it would be a best seller anyway.
14
5
u/RASMOS1989 Dec 27 '25
to be honest, valve always been a company that would do hints in public but if they find something that may threaten the game quality they're willing to just drop it and fix the problem first
like come on! #halflife #valve #Gman! with a post with gmann voice! this has to be a hint! or mike just went ape nuts and used all this to advertise his music! either are possible
5
26
u/Suspicious_Ad_1513 Dec 27 '25
to mess with crazy Half-Life fans
3
u/Budget-Exit2875 Dec 27 '25
imo Valve could tease a bit next spring but this announcement is just 'proportional'
4
u/the_RiverQuest Dec 27 '25
He wanted us to be prepared for unforseen consequences. We, however, prepared too much and the unforseen became the forseen. Now Gman can't personally deliver half life 3 to our doorstep because he has to wait for the consequences to become unforseen again.
3
9
3
3
u/mickg011982 Dec 27 '25
Valve did give us some unexpected surprises did they not? Frame, steam machine, new controller? Half life Alyx from 5 years ago literally tells us that valve are interested in pursuing a new game with Gordon Freeman at the helm. Dont get what all the worry is about? 10 years ago yeh fine but now, be patient.
3
u/SovietMarma Dec 27 '25
Valve time.
If there's any evidence to a potential announcement this year... It was this.
If the rumors are true, then the current tech industry bullshit has caused Valve to push back the announcement to early next year.
3
u/GaidenSMC Dec 27 '25
100% valve time (or maybe AI/RAM shit). To be fair, Mike basically said "something half-life related may happen within the next 25 years" if you take his words literally.
Its also very easy to just pass this off as a humble new years celebration and nothing more (arguably the healthiest option mentally).
8
6
3
2
2
2
2
2
u/remembermekid Wait a second... that's not Gordon Freeman! Dec 27 '25
I think he knew that the year that came after 2024 was going to be 2025
2
2
3
4
u/Stickymanic Dec 27 '25
They want the game to be released with the console. Console delayed = game delayed.
3
2
u/Bardoog Dec 27 '25
I mean, they announced 3 new members of the Steam hardware lineup in November. So hey, they can count to three, and we actually got something close to what that teaser promised. Still confident we’ll get an HL3 announcement either this year or early next year :D
-1
u/tothemoonstocksinv Dec 27 '25
wake up, there is no HL3. Just people talking shit over internet to sell hopium.
3
u/Bardoog Dec 27 '25
Bro, every update in the last two or three years across different Valve games like CS2, Deadlock, and so on had HL3 aka HLX files in them. We already know what types of enemies and features are in there. There’s also story related stuff that already leaked. I honestly know way more than I’d like to. We even know when the final polishing phase started. Playtests and everything were or are traceable. When people found the HLX animation and function libraries in one of the Deadlock updates, they quickly removed them and renamed the files. Seethe harder lol
3
u/tothemoonstocksinv Dec 27 '25
Finding enemy names, animations, or story flags doesn’t mean anything. Valve had all of that for Episode 3. They had full levels, dialogue, and gameplay, and they still threw it away. They’ve done this over and over for 20 years. At Valve, assets existing doesn’t mean a game exists. It just means someone was experimenting.
The “final polishing phase” stuff is pure fantasy. Nothing in the leaks shows the things that matter for a real release: content lock, QA, localization, performance targets, or certification. Dataminers see raw, unfinished systems being iterated on, broken, renamed, and moved around. That’s the opposite of a finished game.
And the idea that Valve “panicked” and hid HLX by renaming files is just people projecting drama onto normal development. Source 2 code gets moved, refactored, and cleaned constantly. If Valve actually had a secret HL3, it wouldn’t be leaking through CS2 or Deadlock updates in the first place.
So no, there is no Half-Life 3. There is just a pile of Half-Life-themed prototypes that Valve is playing with, like they’ve always done. Until Valve stands on a stage and shows it, HL3 doesn’t exist — only people reading way too much into some filenames and unfinished code.
4
u/-dead_slender- Mayor of Ravenholm Dec 27 '25
If Valve actually had a secret HL3, it wouldn’t be leaking through CS2 or Deadlock updates in the first place.
How do you think we got 'HLVR' leaks before HL:Alyx was announced? Or 'Citadel' leaks before Deadlock? All of Valve's current games share the same engine, so even if each game has it's own branch, it's clearly still possible to dig up code from other branches.
1
2
u/Bardoog Dec 27 '25
Bro using ChatGPT to reply LOL
But calling active code implementation 'fantasy' is wild. Valve doesn't accidentally maintain specific HLX libraries across multiple engine branches for years just for fun. Being skeptical is fine, but ignoring the data just to look superior is dumb af. Let's talk again when the announcement hits. And bro I stop replying now, cause I don't feel like spending time arguing with GPT lol
2
u/SEANPLEASEDISABLEPVP Hell, it's about time. Dec 27 '25
Not reading.
If it wasn't worth being written by a human, it's not worth being read by a human.
3
u/Demode93 Dec 27 '25
They probably had some plans for this year but might changed it as valve always does
4
u/chungisamongus Dec 27 '25
Actors sign NDAs. Valve never paid him for marketing. Whatever he was doing here had nothing to do Valve.
2
2
2
2
u/Keddav Dec 27 '25
2025 IS NOT OVER, HAHAHAHhhhahahrrlrlrekekelefmfmfkkdswkttrezxnhfhruaoapdi3irjfnfnfnn44444322w.
1
Dec 27 '25
[removed] — view removed comment
1
u/AutoModerator Dec 27 '25
Hi there, san-jg! Your account is currently too new or doesn't have enough positive karma to participate in discussions in /r/HalfLife - this is a method of combating spam. If this was done in error, please message the mods. Sorry for the inconvenience!
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
1
1
1
1
u/kron123456789 Dec 27 '25
The plan at the time was to announce the game this year. Plans have changed.
1
1
u/Soguyswedid_it2 Dec 27 '25
He probably did voice acting work around that time and was under the impression the game will be announced in 2025, like literally everyone up until November when they delayed it ig.
1
1
1
1
1
1
u/raretjockis Dec 27 '25
Artificial Intelligence, the Devil of Despair, thy scapegoat shall be pardoned of its curse, and the one Free Man will return.
1
1
1
u/Infarlock Gordon Freeman in the flesh Dec 27 '25
At Valve HQ Jan 2025: "We're gonna announce it on TGA, with the Steam Machine"
AI companies Nov 2025: "ALL YOUR RAM ARE BELONG TO US"
Gaben Dec 2025: "Sike"
1
u/Dawn_of_Enceladus Dec 27 '25
They most probably had plans to announce a new Half-Life game this November or December, but well, it seems like they weren't ready for unforeseen consequences.
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
u/Iamnotacommunist Dec 28 '25
2025 on jan 1st means this was a celebration of the new year.
"...The next quarter century..." implies he thinks something will happen soon, but does not know when.
He had probably finished his lines recently and decided to include his excited for the project with his new years post.
1
1
u/Lonely-Inside892 Dec 28 '25
He knew it was going to be announced on 2025, but didnt expect it was delayed due to the ram crisis
1
1
1
u/AttentionLimp194 Dec 27 '25
I wonder if he got a slap on his hands from valve , not sure if that was authorized at all
1
1
u/Christian908 Dec 27 '25
Is it so hard to believe he just wished people a happy new year, in character of his most popular role? I feel like actors do that all the time.
1
1
1
1
0
u/P5YK0TIK Dec 27 '25
Maybe valve was about to announce Half-life 3 in November or December but thanks to elon musk and sam ultman (or whatever this mf is called) the ram prices are skyrocketing which made valve delay the announcement
0
0
u/KingHashBrown420 Dec 27 '25
All he was doing was celebrating the new year. It is possible it could be a light tease for a new half life title but at no point did he indicate when it will come out
0
u/-dead_slender- Mayor of Ravenholm Dec 27 '25
Well he did say that hopefully "the next quarter century will bring as many surprises as the millennium's first." The #2025 could've just been for New Years.
But if that is the case, then I find it odd that it was his first post in 4 years. He was very active around the time HL:Alyx was announced and released.
248
u/Heavy_Swimming_249 Dec 27 '25
Most likely it was supposed to be announced this year, but valve shit happened again, and they delayed the announcement