Former Valve Writer Comments on Half-Life 3

Former Valve writer Chet Faliszek has claimed that he wouldn’t touch Half-Life 3 “with a 10-foot pole.” The thought of Half-Life 3 having to live up to the lore of previous games in the series “terrifies” Falizsek, who previously wrote Half-Life 2: Episode One and Two as well as both Portal and Left 4 Dead titles.

Half-Life 3 has been the subject of speculation for over two decades at this point, reaching almost mythical status in the gaming community. The first two games in the series are widely regarded as being among the greatest video games ever made, which adds to the pressure on Valve to deliver something remarkable with the third mainline entry. The studio hasn’t abandoned the franchise entirely – 2020’s VR spin-off Half-Life: Alyx indicated that Valve still had more plans for the future. However, those plans have yet to come to fruition, and it has now been 22 years since the release of Half-Life 2.

It’s Been 22 Years and the Generational Run That FPS Games Went On in November 2004 Still Hasn’t Been Topped

22 years ago, some of the best first-person shooter games of all time all released within days and weeks of each other.

On YouTube Shorts, Faliszek responded to a comment that suggested making Half-Life 3 would be easy for Valve, given that “the plot could go anywhere” based on events from previous games. But this lore isn’t something Faliszek has any interest in, saying, “When people ask me, ‘Oh man, don’t you wish you could?’ No! No, I almost never want to touch something that already has some kind of lore, or some kind of back history about it, not even like Left 4 Dead or anything. I don’t want to touch anything old,” he explained. “I don’t have to have people who remember stuff better than I do yelling at me about changing some history of lore from 50 years ago at this point.”

Balance the critic averages

Easy (6)Medium (8)Hard (10)

Faliszek elaborated on his point further, revealing that he once held conversations with Bungie about potentially working on one of its games. “But all their games have this, they have so much lore, they have so much lore, and I’m like, that lore terrifies me. I have no idea, I don’t know that much lore about my own life, let alone your game’s. I don’t want to have to write inside of that. Any sequel to me is just a disaster nightmare that I never want to do. So I’m not going to.” On the point of Half-Life 3, he continued, “No. I don’t want to touch that with a 10-foot pole. Or even a grav gun separating me from that 10-foot pole. A grav gun to a 10-foot pole, I wouldn’t do it. I wouldn’t do it with Dog’s arms.”

I don’t want to touch that with a 10-foot pole. Or even a grav gun separating me from that 10-foot pole… I wouldn’t do it with Dog’s arms.

Faliszek’s position is understandable, and he makes sure to clarify that this is not a Half-Life 3 leak or an indication of an impending reveal, but rather just his own position on the subject. The weight of expectations surrounding the game is enormous, perhaps as big as any other title, given the two decades of anticipation. If Half-Life 3 is eventually released, regardless of its actual quality, it’s hard to see how it actually lives up to those gargantuan expectations.

Guess the games from the emojis.

Easy (120s)Medium (90s)Hard (60s)

There is no guarantee that Valve will ever release Half-Life 3, despite the rumor mill suggesting the game could be deep into development. Recent rumors suggested that the developer could be gearing up to reveal Half-Life 3 in the near future, although nothing has materialized yet. Valve’s most recent game release remains Counter-Strike 2, which was released in 2023, but multiplayer hero-shooter/MOBA hybrid Deadlock remains in a closed alpha.