It has been more than a year since rumors about Half-Life 3 began gaining serious attention. In fact, some leaks suggested that Valve would release the game in early 2026 alongside Steam Machine. However, not only was the console delayed until summer, but the game itself had not received any public mention. Until now.

One of the first leaks about the game revealed its codename, Project HLX. This appears to be the name used internally for the long-awaited new chapter in the Half-Life series.

After months and months of rumors without any public response from Valve, a developer from the company has finally mentioned the project. It was Mike Morasky, a composer at Valve, who spoke about HLX during a conference at GameSoundCon 2026.

During a question-and-answer session, the composer talked about HDR implementations, referring to Deadlock and HLX as two completely separate projects, each with its own implementation.

“And in fact, I think Deadlock has their own version of HDR. You know, HLX has its own version, so on and so forth,” he said.

This is the first time a Valve employee has directly mentioned Half-Life 3 in public. In fact, the existence of HLX had not been discussed outside Valve’s offices either, as the only information players had received about it came from leaks discovered through data mining.

Of course, Morasky did not explain what HLX actually is or whether it is related to Half-Life 3. Nevertheless, it is good to know that Valve is still working on this project, especially if it turns out to be the return of one of the most influential video game series in history.