It has taken 12 years, but Valve has finally announced a new Half-Life. The official unveiling is on November 21st, 10 AM Pacific Time (6 PM UK time). Although little has been revealed about the game, all we really know is that it will be Valve’s flagship Virtual Reality game and that it is called Half-Life Alyx.
We’re excited to unveil Half-Life: Alyx, our flagship VR game, this Thursday at 10am Pacific Time.
Can’t wait to share it with all of you! pic.twitter.com/BupFCxSrTw
— Valve (@valvesoftware) November 18, 2019
For years there have been rumors about Valve working on Half-Life VR. Jeep Barnett, a Valve programmer, even spoke to Kotaku way back in 2015 about experimenting with Half-Life in VR, but never actually promised a game at the end of it. A fun fact from the interview is that Portal came from experimenting with assets from Half-Life. When asked specifically about a Half-Life VR game, Barnett said:
“We’re not saying, ‘no,’ but we don’t know what the right thing is [yet]. Our most precious resource is time, and we don’t have enough time for people to do everything. Would we like to make all of our franchises in VR? Absolutely. But we don’t have enough time or people. So we have to figure out what’s the best fit, what (sic) plays to the strengths of VR.”
This ties in pretty well to Gabe Newell’s Ask Me Anything response to the status of Half-Life 3, he responded: “The number three must not be said”. It also ties into a video posted on the Valve News Network, a valve fan Youtube channel ran by Tyler McVicker. In the video, we are taken through several long-running rumors looking at everything from quotes to cut games from The Lab.
We will cover the rest of the details when we hear them on Thursday. But it looks like 3 is still not to be said. If you haven’t picked up a VR headset yet, be sure to check out the headset from Primax.
Are you a fan of the Half-Life series? Looking forward to this VR game? Let us know in the comments below and be sure to stay tuned to The Nerd Stash for the latest in gaming, movies, TV, comics, and more!