New VR Half-Life Game Confirmed, Reveal Coming This Thursday

UPDATE: It looks like Gordon Freeman is out of the bag. Following the leak of the transcript, Valve has confirmed Half-Life: Alyx for VR. And what’s more, we’ll see it officially this Thursday, according to the tweet below.

Who’s ready for a return to Half-Life?

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

ORIGINAL STORY: At one point, Half-Life was Valve’s most appreciated franchise on the PC front. But it’s been years since we’ve seen anything new from the series, leaving many fans wondering if co-founder and CEO Gabe Newell would ever release a third chapter. Well, it does look like something new could come to The Game Awards next month, though it’s not quite the count to three some folks were hoping for.

A new interview transcript that popped up over at Reddit predicts that a new Half-Life game might be introduced at The Game Awards when it airs on Dec. 12. Titled Half-Life: Alyx, it looks to have ties with the earlier games, but will present a new level of VR interaction not seen before with the series. And what’s more, it has a release date that’s not far off, in March 2020.

The report has Game Awards creator and producer Geoff Keighley speaking with Valve game designer Robin Walker (along with another unnamed person), asking why it’s VR instead of a full-blown sequel like many people want. According to them, “it began as an exploration into VR,” though the transcript cut off after that point.

The transcript is an interesting read. That said, none of this is official, so take it with a grain of salt. After all, we’ve heard Half-Life rumors for years now; and although a turn to virtual reality would be an interesting one, Valve could be raked across the coals for making it an exclusive to that format. Don’t forget the reception the company received when it announced its new DOTA game, only for it to be the mobile-based card game Artifact.

All the details are available here. It would be a nice surprise for The Game Awards, especially from a company as big as Valve. And with virtual reality adoption on the rise, some fans would be happy to jump back into Gordon Freeman’s world.