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Half-Life 3 To Be Revealed At Gamescom 2012? [UPDATED]

News & Rumors Other

[UPDATE 3: Believe it or not, there’s more. Gamescom organizers told Joystiq this: “We can not officially announce it. Please check our list for further changes. Please see the legend for information about the sources.

At this point, all I know is this: over the next couple of days, I will definitely be keeping an open mind, as well as my ears open.]

[UPDATE 2: Valve has stated to CVG that they will not be showing any games at Cologne this year, and the Half-Life 3 listing has been removed from the PDF document in question.]

[UPDATE: I have made a second call to the Gamescom public info line. I was explicitly informed by one of the managers, that Valve were the ones who asked that HL3 be placed on the list; but that apparently, “just a few minutes ago“, Valve requested that HL3 be removed from that list.

Meanwhile, Eurogamer reports that they were notified by Gamescom representatives, that HL3 and Dragon Age 3 appearing on the listing was “a mistake. Gamescom reps denied comment on how and why the mistake was made, which is pretty strange.

The situation is murky, but it is still developing; don’t get your hopes up just yet.]

Yes, this truly is the month when everything happened. Read on to find out how deep the rabbit hole really goes.

Half-Life 3 To Be Revealed At Gamescom 2012? [UPDATED]

This tip comes to us from one of our readers, Hesam, and it’s a big one. On the official Gamescom website, in the Press section, there is a PDF list of new games and products set to be showcased at Gamescom 2012.

This is an official Gamescom document, and while there are a few grammatical errors, I can absolutely assure you that this list is real.

The sixth-to-last game on that list, on the very last page, is “Half-Life 3“. This is an image of that PDF list, showing the Half-Life 3 entry, along with a few others from that same page:

In case that’s not enough, I just got off the official Gamescom information phone line. I talked to a Gamescom representative who confirmed to me that each and every game on that list will be showcased at Gamescom 2012, and that the list itself is entirely legitimate. I didn’t ask about Half-Life 3, but you’re free to pick up the phone if you like.

Gamescom 2012 begins tomorrow, and ends 4 days later, on the 19th.

Once more, thanks to Hesam for the tip! Thanks to Foxholeboy, Surf and my great colleague Mimaz, for assistance and support.

108 Comments

  1. Found this flying around the tweetweb today:
    http://www.hipstr.de/post/29843046940/half-life-3-erstes-bild-aufgetaucht

    could this really have happened and no one caught its air …

    • He was still at it after that, and he posted up 2 more stills before stopping. It definitely seems to be a game of some sort, but there’s nothing screaming out “Half-Life 3” in those pictures there, at all. It’s literally just an image of a stairwell, and if he wasn’t adding those weird Half-Life references to his Tweets, there’d be no way to draw that connection in the first place.

  2. I was GC yesterday, and according to the magazine you get there for free, Valve does have a booth, in Hall 7..I was there, but i couldn’t find ANYTHING valve related..there weren’t any “closed doors” where valve could’ve showed something..

  3. I’m starting to hate VALVe…again….but as I allways do, when HL3 is out , I will play it and I will love VALVe once again.

  4. Hey, have you seen this new development? Its already covered here http://half-life.wikia.com/wiki/User_blog:KATANAGOD/Half-Life_3_@_Gamescon%3F but I thought it was interesting and I always like to see valve news here. ^.^ Read all the stuff under the “Major Update!” part. This is either a very elaborate prank, or an ARG.

  5. I still have a faint hope that we will see something.

    P.S. 100th comment, FTW.

  6. Hey guys did anyone notice world of Warcraft and dead space are both releasing there third expansion in September there surrounding hl3 icon ( i know wow is 9/25/2012, not confirmed on dead space though but it is showing at gamescom.
    sorry if my grammar sucks just thought id throw that out there.

    check out the link and take a look for your self
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYGhJDCdtXA

  7. Gabe cannibalized the hl3 development team now all that’s left is a half ass model of Gordan freeman and pile of shit (FYI this happened back in 08) that’s why its been such a cover up on valves part everyone’s scared shitless.

    • lol, I find this so easy to visualise.

      A sealed off wing of Valve HQ, marked ‘DO NOT ENTER, SEALED 2008’… and inside, nothing but empty chairs and dusty old monitors, displaying some crappy animations of Advisors using telepathy to throw snowballs.

  8. Someone who visited valve earlier.

    What do you guys have to say about Half Life 3 accidently being on the roster for gamescon and then being removed?

    We had no idea that it was there in the first place!

  9. “BioShock Infinite” has been removed from the gamescom list,too.

  10. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3AbwJON7ECk&feature=player_embedded

  11. I’ve got it! They wanted to start the HL3 ARG by denying it in the first place and leave the community to find out! And with this it all makes sense http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYGhJDCdtXA&feature=player_detailpage#t=31s

    • I kinda got that feeling that the “Mann vs. Machine” TF2 “Event” is going to be an ARG. Also, There is a boat in its trailer which reminds me of the borealis pretty much. What I also assume as a hint, is that the person sending all those robots is called “Grey Man”, which might be the full name of the G-Man and you know who he is and what he does.
      In HL2:EP2 Eli said that the Borealis would have somehting really powerfull and it must be destroeyed (don’t remember the actual quote).
      You are going to go to the borealis with Alyx, which seems to be a bit controlled by the G-Man, as you know from her phrase in HL2:EP2 before (I don’t want to spoil.
      This TF2 event is more Half-Life than Team fortress.

      • Sorry, I didn’t finish a sentence.
        In HL2:EP2 Eli said that the Borealis would have somehting really powerfull and it must be destroeyed (don’t remember the actual quote) and there are MANY robots coming out of the “Borealis” in the trailer and my first tought was “Wow, that seems really powerfull to me…”

  12. I don’t always predict the future, but when I do, It’s about HL3:
    http://img339.imageshack.us/img339/1788/icanpredictthefuture.png

  13. Wait just one second…Valve says they will not be showing any GAMES…they could still very well show a trailer. They said nothing against an ANNOUNCEMENT.

  14. “UPDATE: I have made a second call to the Gamescom public info line. I was explicitly informed by one of the managers, that Valve were the ones who asked that HL3 be placed on the list; but that apparently, “just a few minutes ago”, Valve requested that HL3 be removed from that list.”

    Perhaps this is the the start of a ARG…

  15. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYGhJDCdtXA&feature=player_detailpage#t=31s

  16. The GTTV episode this Friday will have the announcement for Half-Life 3, mark my words! (I want to believe)

  17. I wonder… Could it be all the hype that’s ruining the release/development of HL3? I can’t imagine a world that never got HL3 or a world with it.

  18. Quit trolling with my heart, Valve… D:

  19. of course it’s fake, they have to conclude the Half-Life 2 series first, with the HL2 ep3, ending the trilogy, before they can move on.

    • No. Half-Life 3 is reported to be made in place of episode 3, the last installment in the Half-Life series.

      • Yes, HL3 would represent a full-fledged, more significant rendition of the Episode Three plotline. By this point, I’m sure we can all agree that Valve isn’t going to get on stage after 5 years, just to announce a stand-alone add-on for an 8-year old game. Especially not when we have reason to believe the next Half-Life installment will also come with an entirely new game engine.

  20. A man can dream, the next 4 days at work at going to be hell!

  21. Valve won’t be announcing Half-Life 3 so easily. Trust me. They will give us another ARG which will be difficult to spot but all we need is time and clues. Be patient my brothers… It will begin soon.

  22. Eh, however much I want to believe, it does not seem likely to me they will announce the game yet. Besides, I doubt ARG-o-phile Valve would release any news on HL3 without an ARG 😛

  23. inb4 the website explodes

  24. A last minute Valve conference is called at the 2012 Gamescom. Gamers drop what they’re doing and rush to the venue. Gabe Newell walks on stage. The crowd cheers, visibly excited. Alone on stage, Gabe raises his hands and the crowd gets quiet. He simply says “Here it is” and the screen behind him opens up to reveal a trailer. An icy landscape is on screen. Background music is playing. Alyx appears, as does Barney. The Borealis flashes on the screen and the G-Man makes a short speech. Gordon Freeman appears, crowbar in hand. A final screen shows the title of the game and a date – 2013.

    At this point, the crowd erupts. A frenzy washes over the audience like a wave, propelling people out of their chairs. Some start throwing their wallets onto the stage. Parties erupt around the world as thousands of people see the news live. Websites are choked as millions of fan sites and message boards are exploding with discussion, and game game journalists make their fingers bleed on their keyboards as they write stories about this miracle.

    Valve Corporation goes public and the stock doubles instantly. Pre-orders are opened on Steam and set records never before seen for any form of entertainment. Gabe Newell’s is named Time’s Person of the Year as Valve overtakes Apple as the most successful company in history. And Half-Life 3 becomes the best videogame of all time.

  25. Come on guys, what’s going on?

    Can you at least clarify who you spoke to? Get with it.

  26. Look at another news: 🙁
    http://www.computerandvideogames.com/362973/half-life-3-were-not-showing-any-games-at-gamescom-says-valve/

  27. This is way past ridiculous. I’ll believe it when I’ll see it running on my computer.

  28. Half life 3 removed from the list.

  29. I am currently having a breakdown

  30. Gabe will just walk up to the podium, stand there for a few seconds, and smile at the audience. In that moment, everyone will erupt in a cheer because they know that the thing they’ve been waiting for for so long will finally arrive.

  31. OMFGOMFGOMFGOMFG

  32. I can’t even put into words of my excitement.
    No normal Valve fan wouldn’t get excited over this, you can’t deny that all your faith already went into this.
    I’m trying not to but it just can’t be helped but feel… anxiety that they might actually announce it or not.
    The question isn’t anymore ‘if’ they’re working on Half-Life 3, it’s more about ‘when’ now.

  33. Ha, why on Earth would you not ask about HL3 during your first phone call… if it was an unseen error at that point then of course they would confirm everything on the list would be there.

    But the explicit confirmation that Valve said it’s going to be there and then told them to take it off the list…

    The only plausible explanation to me is that it was supposed to be secret and Gamescom accidentally released their internal pdf instead of the public one.

    • Oh, although another less welcome possibility could be that they intended a while back to reveal at Gamescom but don’t feel that they’re ready yet, and somewhere the communication failed.

      This may well have happened before, at E3; they booked a room for a private conference and cancelled it. And of course this goes back all the way to HL2 where they ended up faking a lot of their presentation to make the deadline and it came back to bite them: they’re probably extra wary of never making this mistake again.

      But I think in any case, Valve are going to have to explain this one. It’s too big. If they don’t turn up, and then sit on it and ignore it like it never happened, a lot of fans will think that that’s unacceptable behaviour.

    • “The only plausible explanation to me is that it was supposed to be secret and Gamescom accidentally released their internal pdf instead of the public one.” It’s a good theory. none of the responds and bad news didn’t tell us that half life 3 will not announce!!they just told us about the list errors. additionally, the “eurogamers” news contain an important sentence: “Eurogamer asked three times why the names were listed, but no explanation was given.”
      I hope so…

  34. I think we will not see anything at gamescom. I sent an email to
    their communication assistant and ask her,if these bad news are true why you don’t update your list and remove half life 3. and answered:

    “we are currently working on it. It has highest priority for us. The list is already in the ‘’exporting modus’’ it should be changed any minute.”

    We should wait more.Again…

    • I think they need a new pdf software if the “exporting” takes that long.. should be a matter of a few mintues – including editing and uploading if it is that urgent. ^^

  35. This all seems to be 2 much of a coincidence to be forgotten about as another Valve troll it all sort of adds up. Here me out

    – Valve launches new TF2 ARG which is set to end after gamerscom.
    – This ARG contains references to Half life
    – Valve will be hosting Dota 2 tournament at gamerscom so they will definitely be their
    -CSGO releases next week with Dota 2 soon to be out of beta after gamerscom
    – Vavle have no projects scheduled to be released after 2012
    – Source 2 code has been found in source filmmaker

    To much coincidence ??? I dont think so.

    I mean I could be all wrong about this but I think they have every intention to reveal something big at gamerscom and wanted to keep it a secret. And their has been a miscommunication issue with it appearing on the list when they had no intention for it to appear and wanted to surprise everyone with it.

    It may even not be Half Life 3 they might be revealing their next gen engine Source 2. At least it will be a step forward to a reveal to Half Life 3.

    Fingers Crossed Guys

  36. I so hope to god this is real…but then again Gabe said they want to unveil H-L 3 in their “own way”. So, there has to be some big ARG which I believe might be starting in Gamescom but won’t reveal the whole thing just yet. This will be maybe 6 months long campaign where finally the game gets released Mid next year or something.

  37. If this turns out to be true, buckets will be filled… with tears of joy and cum.

  38. Why Valve and Half-Life 3 are still in the PDF file?!?!

  39. UPDATE: I have made a second call to Gamescom. I was explicitly informed that Valve were the ones who askedthat HL3 be placed on the list; but that apparently, just a few minutes ago, Valve requested that HL3 be removed from that list. As of writing, its entry still remains on that list.

    Is this true?

  40. Have we been trolled YET AGAIN?

  41. Some people were getting hyped about the Australian Gameinformer’s next cover that was teased to be something really big that no-one can talk about until today. It turned out to be Black Ops 2 multiplayer. I was pissed off. Then I found out about this. Best feeling of all time.
    I’m just wondering if Valve requested to have the HL3 listing removed just to keep us uncertain and blow our minds even more, or if they actually aren’t showing HL3 at Gamescom and it was some kind of a mistake.

  42. Whoever made the list was just some troll who got the opportunity. King of trolls.

  43. “I was informed that Valve had previously requested that Half-Life 3 appear on that listing”
    So someone probably called Gamescom with their best Gabe impression to see if they would fall for it. That probably happens constantly at most video game convention/retailer/magazine offices…

  44. seems its a mistake : http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2012-08-14-gamescom-claims-half-life-3-and-dragon-age-3-will-be-at-show

    but i want to believe 😉

  45. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghB5J-XPeWs&feature=channel&list=UL
    Another video from me.. :DD not better then my source 2 vid, but nah whatever

  46. Well many people do not know too many details.. if you ask them if something from their official website is official they will say yes because they think that this should be the case. So it depends how you asked.

    If you asked something like “Are the games on that list going to be showcased – despite the remark that this is not an official list and subject to change?” the answer you might get would be completely different as the representative might look it up and not be so sure anymore. ^^

  47. i am holding my breath until that episode comes out (forget what the internet show is called)… that will most likely be the announcement/just post announcement.

    also, would it be worth mentioning a past post (http://lambdageneration.com/posts/valve-to-reveal-new-unannounced-game-at-gamescom-2012/)

    • That one was fake, actually. I guess the guy who made it had no idea what we’d discover today.

      • So Valve changed their decision to show a game within a month? Just doesn’t seem to quite add up…

        • But it does add up.

          Look at all this free publicity we’re giving them.

          And they get away with essentially lying to their fans like this because it’s not illegal to request a booth for a game that doesn’t exist, then request the booth be removed before the convention.

  48. Heads will roll.

  49. Mann vs Machine, Half Life 3, MY SKYRIM NOW WORKS AGAIN

    BEST WEEK EVAR.

  50. I’m scared
    Someone hold me

  51. HOLY SHIT. If this is true then my life is complete. I can die happy now. or, well, AFTER HAVING PLAYED HL3 HAHHA OMGOMGOMGOGMAGHFAISYHFkj *giggles to death* I do hope this is real….

  52. GOOD GOD I CAN’T CONTAIN MY ERECTION.

    THIS YEAR WILL GO DOWN IN HISTORY, 2012.
    PORTAL 2, MANN VS MACHINE, HL3 REVEAL.

    AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA PLEASE GOD DON’T LET ME DIE YET

  53. If this is legit, my year will be made.
    Guess we’ll have to wait and see.

  54. right at the top it says “No responsibility is taken for the correctness of this information” and that sources for this list include “Internet”, forums and blogs.

    • Once again, I made a phone call. I asked a Gamescom representative directly, if each and every game on that list would be showcased at Gamescom. The answer, delivered in fluent English, was “yes”. The phone number is right there on the Gamescom website, and anyone can call to get confirmation.

  55. HELP! HELP! HELP! I SHAT MYSELF!!!

  56. OMFG OMFG HOLY SHED NO WAY NEED TO MAKE VID ABOUT DAT OMFG

  57. Well, Valve has been busy this week. =P

  58. *cries* w00000000000000000000000000
    lets see if it be true though.

  59. oh you better not be joking here
    this is not a joking matter

  60. YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  61. Hell yeaaaaaaaaaah!

  62. It seems too good to be true. I’m not going to get my hopes up.

  63. HELL YEAH!

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