14 DAY TRIAL // Valve has once again made a public statement saying that it hasn’t started teasing fans with the possible reveal of Half-Life 3 or at least Half-Life 2: Episode 3 by releasing logos or videos filled with hidden messages.
Valve is famous for its top-notch games, ranging from Portal to Team Fortress or Left 4 Dead, but also for teasing fans with hidden clues and elaborate alternate reality games. Rumors that Valve employees now have Half-Life 3 t-shirts or that a video of Wheatley, one of the characters from Portal 2, was filled with special clues, once again kicked off another wave of rampant speculation amidst the studio’s fanbase.
Chief among these outlandish theories, as always, is the oft-rumored Half-Life 2: Episode 3, which has been speculated on for quite some time, while Valve declined to even talk about it.
In order to quell the speculation, Valve writer Chet Faliszek posted a special message on the Steam forums, saying that all the recent “leaks” that appeared are just tricks made by some members of the community to fool, or troll others.
“You are being trolled. There is no ARG,” Faliszek said. “Wheatley’s speech was set in Portal 2 fiction – that is all. There has been no directive from Gabe [Newell, Valve boss] to leak anything. That is all false.”
The Valve writer also mentions that, before anyone starts speculating that his denial is just part of a larger ruse, he only wants to clear things up before people start getting disappointed.
“I just want to say this so there is no confusion. This is the community trolling the community nothing more. While it is nice to see people excited about anything HL, I hate seeing people be trolled like this,” he added.
As such, it seems that Valve isn’t trying to tease its fans, so the only projects we know it has in development right now are Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and Dota 2.