Half Life 3 Confirmed By Source 2 Director After Trademark Hoax And Valve Jira Database Leak? Is 2014 Release Date Possible?

Another month, another Half Life 3 rumor. But with so many tidbits and leaks, it seems Valve has all but confirmed the game is in development.

According to The Epoch Times, a new image has been posted on a forum showing what is allegedly a Source 2 director's files.

One of which happens to be labeled "HL3."

It's minimal, but it's "pretty much what Valve has offered us regarding Half Life 3."

“There has been winks and nudges, along with outright admissions that the developer doesn’t want to rush the third game. But the evidence continues to mount that Valve is doing something with the game. What could it be? Stay tuned.”

So while Valve is stubbornly refusing to publicly confirm Half Life 3 development, it seems all but confirmed.

This image follows two recent Half Life 3 news that circulated the web.

The first evidence is that a trademark has been filed for Half-Life 3 in Europe on September 29. While a trademark is often only a security measure and does not necessarily confirm a product release, many are seeing this as a sign that Half-Life 3 is confirmed.

Although it was later removed and Valve announced it as a hoax, this wasn't the only evidence that got fans' hopes up.

The second evidence is much more tantalizing.

Reportedly, someone has hacked into a Valve software called Valve User Picker, which is used for project management and bug tracking. Through User Picker, Valve employees are split into development teams.

Through this hack, it has been confirmed that two Half-Life 3 teams are currently at work on the sequel, one called Half-Life 3 Core and the other simply Half-Life 3.

In total, there are 47 employees working on Half Life 3 between the two teams, including Adam Foster, a name fans recognize as the producer of the Minerva mod for Half Life 2.

So, no, Valve is not saying anything about Half Life 3, but to say it is confirmed would not be so far-fetched.

Although theorizing on a release date, given that it's a Valve game, would be a fool's errand.