LambdaGeneration Community Join our new Community Platform — Share Half-Life news and community content. Built by fans, for fans.
We Are The Lambda Generation. LambdaGeneration is a website dedicated to the video game Half-Life. ( We're basically really passionate about crowbars, headcrabs and anyone who has goatee with a PhD in theoretical physics… )

Marc Laidlaw Confirms That There Is No Half-Life 3 ARG

News & Rumors Other

I did say we weren’t going to touch on that so-called “ARG”, that so many people were convinced existed inside the Wheatley nomination short from the 2011 VGA’s, but I did add “for now” to the end of that sentence. Well, guess what? We’re already ragging on it, except this time we know for sure that there is no Half-Life 3 ARG. How? Read on to find out!

Marc Laidlaw Confirms That There Is No Half-Life 3 ARG

This is a brief e-mail exchange between Marc Laidlaw, the writer behind the Half-Life franchise, and Leveraged, the administrator of ValveARG.com:

As you can see, Marc is crystal clear on this: there is no ARG. Wheatley’s Character of the Year nomination short is just that: a non-canon, unimportant short. It means absolutely nothing. The constellations in the background mean nothing, the name of the satellite means nothing, the numbers on the side mean nothing, and so on and so forth. Really, guys: Valve isn’t always out to secretly announce Half-Life 3. And not every announcement Valve makes from now on will be in ARG form – in fact, I very seriously doubt the possibility of a Half-Life 3 ARG… ever. It’ll probably be just a surprise announcement. No need to make things needlessly complex with an unnecessary ARG.

But hey, we did hear that a voice actor had done work on a new Half-Life game. And we did hear that a Valve dev had worn a T-shirt to a game expo. And E3 2012 will mark 4 and a half years since the last time we saw Half-Life. Just as E3 2003 marked 4 and a half years since Half-Life 1’s release.

Of course, let’s not forget that Half-Life 2 was officially announced months before E3 2003. Back in… April. So, hang in there, fellow Half-Life fans.

22 Comments

  1. :O

    http://www.facepunch.com/threads/1148401

  2. Can anyone tell Gabe about this? http://www.black-aperture.com/
    I mean, to tell him obuat the unauthorized use of the valve logo. No one wants to be in another false hype again.

  3. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ymMrwlsbtrI&feature=g-u&context=G24b32edFUAAAAAAAAAA

    Here we go again…

  4. Why haven’t you posted an article in the past week? If you’re taking the holidays off, you can say so. Not a peep about the new TF2 updates, or the huge Steam Winter Sale.

    • Hey, chill out there. Remember – for the time being, I’m pretty much the only regular writer. As it turns out, not all of the time I spend during my days can be devoted near-exclusively to writing for the website. We’re a small fansite, not a corporate giant like IGN or something. New articles are on their way.

  5. Honestly, Half-Life 3 has to wait until after CS:GO. There’s only so much publicity Valve can handle. That’s why Portal 2 was released before the DOTA 2 championships. Unfortunately Valve is to small to get big at this paticular time with all the new innovations the other game companies are making. The Source Engine has to compete with the graphics of major titles.

  6. I’m a dedicated HL fan, and I see a possible positive side in ever rumor and such, but this whole ARG thing of Wheatly’s video at VGA felt preposterous.
    And now even after Marc clarified it, people still believe there is something in that video….
    Although I have to admit the “1…1…1…” was kinda suspicious.

  7. I hope it comes out before TF3 as I want a Halflife 3 pre order hat.

  8. Just because it’s not an ARG does not mean the hints and clues are still hints and clues.

  9. There’s no Half-Life 3 ARG because there’s no Half-Life 3.
    A slight tease in a video itself doesn’t constitute an ARG.

  10. I crunched the numbers over at the steam forums, and look:
    http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showpost.php?p=26895126&postcount=3712

  11. I sense overhype.

    Let them sit in silence for another 5 years if they want to… They will have to pay a heavy toll for it.

  12. The “1…1…1…” may be a dig at the fans, or just a ‘Meet the Spy’ reference. Either way, they’re having fun with our expectations, I think.

  13. No surprise to me

Leave a reply


Sign in via Steam to skip spam and contact fields.