Is Half-Life Episode 3 finally happening? A sign might point to, “Yes, it’s really happening.” A mysterious new game from Valve has quietly appeared in Steam’s database, according to SteamDB. To make things more interesting, the repository entry seems to come with different data for a server related to said secret game. Fans are now speculating, whether these mysterious SteamDB entries are for Half-Life 3 or another of Valve’s secret projects.
SteamDB, a fan-made database, has often been used to track any upcoming game on Steam, including Valve’s internal projects. Typically, when updates are pushed to Valve’s servers, eagle-eyed users can spot them weeks before they go live. That’s how people knew about previous Half-Life updates before they were officially announced. But this time, Valve is playing it differently.
Valve has implemented a new ‘private repository system,’ letting developers hide update activity for their Steam games. Obviously, this makes it harder for outsiders to track progress. It’s not clear when exactly Valve introduced this system to Steam’s API. Some dedicated fans are pointing out that it was added in December 2024.
Now, just weeks after the update, a new secret project appeared in Steam’s backend: AppID 3488080 and 3488100. SteamDB admin xPaw specifically commented that these were added by Valve itself.
Fans jokingly said this could indicate a release of Artifact 2, Ricochet 2, or new spin-offs like Bridge Constructor Portal or Black Mesa Desk Job. Pragmatic ones simply expect these to be separate placeholder entries for Deadlock, for when it officially launches. Nevertheless, besides the SteamDB entry, the rumor mill about Half-Life 3 or Episode 3 has been churning for months.
First, back in late 2023, some people claimed that they were playtesting for something called Half-Life X. Valve also brought back the original Half-Life crewmembers, which allegedly, only for a 3.5-hour-long documentary. Then, of course, Alyx‘s success basically rekindled interest in the franchise, proving there’s still demand for anything Half-Life.
Still, like all rumors about Half-Life Episode 3, this could all be nothing. Gabe Newell said in the documentary that the team scrapped the project because they failed to ‘move anything forward’ after all. But die-hard fans believe something big is brewing; whatever they’re working on, they don’t want us to see it — yet.
