With Half-Life: Alyx set to release this month, Game Informer sat down with Valve to discuss why it needed to be a virtual reality title, a point that has been contentious among fans who wanted a full-fledged Half-Life sequel. Interestingly, in the interview, Valve developer Robin Walker said that the company doesn’t view Half-Life: Alyx as an end for the series, but hopefully its return to it. And of course this question was prefaced by asking what Valve would tell fans who are hoping for Half-Life 3.
Half-Life means a lot to us, and it’s been incredibly rewarding to refamiliarize ourselves with its characters, setting, and mechanics. There are Half-Life: Alyx team members who have been at Valve since Half-Life 2, and quite a few who go back to the original Half-Life. There are also people on the team for whom Half-Life: Alyx is their first time working on this series at all – and many of them certainly hope it’s not the last. We absolutely see Half-Life: Alyx as our return to this world, not the end of it.
It’s certainly no confirmation, but it’s not nothing. Any indication that Valve wants to step back into this universe is a good one, especially given that Valve is actually releasing a new Half-Life game for the first time since 2007. The series long thought to be dead may have some life left in it after all.
Half-Life: Alyx releases on March 23, 2020 for the Valve Index, HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, Oculus Quest, and Windows Mixed Reality.
It finally returns
Half-Life: Alyx
Half-Life 3, but its a midquel
Half-Life: Alyx is a bold comeback for Valve’s previously-stagnant AAA franchise, described by Valve itself as its “flagship VR game.”
