For whatever reason – hope, I imagine – people still think they’ll be seeing Half-Life 3 in their lives. If I’m honest, I’ve given up on ever seeing Gordon Freeman again, and I’m rather rapidly running out of reasons to keep caring. And then Valve just goes and gives us a new one: Virtual Reality. While many expected a VR Half-Life 3 announcement from GDC, that hasn’t happened – but Valve’s not ruling it out.
“We’re not saying, ‘no’ but we don’t know what the right thing is [yet],” Valve programmer Jeep Barnett told Kotaku when asked about a VR Half-Life 3.
“Our most precious resource is time, and we don’t have enough time for people to do everything. Would we like to make all of our franchises in VR? Absolutely. But we don’t have enough time or people. So we have to figure out what’s the best fit, what plays to the strengths of VR.”
Valve has, naturally, experimented with Half-Life assets while mucking about with their VR system – but that doesn’t necessarily mean a new Half-Life is coming – much in the same way that their new Aperture Science VR demo doesn’t mean we’ll be seeing a Portal 3. We’ll probably not be seeing anything ending in a 3.
“So yeah, we’ll grab some headcrabs, we’ll grab the machine guns from Half-Life, the rocket launcher – all those different fun things – and see how they play in VR,” Barnett said. “But right now, it’s a tool for exploring the different kind of game designs we want to do.
“Is Half-Life a good fit? Is Left 4 Dead a good fit? Is a new franchise a good fit? I don’t know yet. We’re really trying to cover the broad spectrum of what we could do, and then we’ll start focusing on spearheading that.”
I’m still rather sceptical about Virtual Reality – as it’s a gimmick that we’ve seen resurface every decade or so. This time though, the technology is in place to make it a viable thing for homes, and with so many manufacturers and platform holders backing the technology, this time could be the one.
Last Updated: March 6, 2015
Pieter Kruger
March 6, 2015 at 08:03
………so you have a winning brand like Half Life and you wanna do WHAT WITH IT NOW!!!!???????
ReaperOfSquirrels
March 6, 2015 at 08:26
F it up completely
SentientSlug
March 6, 2015 at 08:55
Dont be such moon bag lovers. Negative Nancies. Have valve ever “F’ed” anything up? If half life becomes a VR release in any form, you two are no longer allowed to buy or play it. you have relinquished your rights. I’m calling Valve right now.
Mark Treloar
March 6, 2015 at 10:45
And are you going to pay upward of R3000 for a single game?
RinceThis
March 6, 2015 at 08:25
HAHA! People who still believe in Half Life 3 are like https://i0.wp.com/img2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20140412015817/degrassi/images/0/0d/Post-21888-Never-gonna-give-you-up-gif-blvt.gif
Ranting Raptor
March 6, 2015 at 08:30
darnit. Gif Rick Rolled…
Spaffy
March 6, 2015 at 08:29
The first time that headcrab comes at me in VR, I’ll either have a broken VR or shit stains all over it
Ranting Raptor
March 6, 2015 at 08:29
Eish… Never thought of that
Hammersteyn
March 6, 2015 at 08:30
Just dont try to slap it away with your hands
Spaffy
March 6, 2015 at 08:35
http://i.ytimg.com/vi/3KXmmPsG298/hqdefault.jpg
Hammersteyn
March 6, 2015 at 08:35
Bwahahahaha
Ranting Raptor
March 6, 2015 at 08:42
looooooooooool
Admiral Chief
March 6, 2015 at 08:52
Hahahahahahah
Dutch Matrix
March 6, 2015 at 08:53
Heeheeheeheeeeeee
Dutch Matrix
March 6, 2015 at 08:52
The VR headset thingy goes over the eyes, not the ass!
You’re doing it wrong…
ReaperOfSquirrels
March 6, 2015 at 08:31
2 games for the VR junkies… Silent Hill… and Alien Isolation.
Hammersteyn
March 6, 2015 at 08:32
That PT demo can go f**k it self. Scariest damn thing I’ve played in years.
ReaperOfSquirrels
March 6, 2015 at 08:40
Lol, I saw that… freaking crazy.
Hammersteyn
March 6, 2015 at 08:31
“Our most precious resource is time, and we don’t have enough time for people to do everything.” Not even to develop a sequel for a game that’s almost a decade old?
RinceThis
March 6, 2015 at 08:34
It’s not going to happen. Ever. The hype is too much. The PC Masterbaters have sunk their own dream.
Captain JJ the damned
March 6, 2015 at 08:41
This sounds like something Valve would do.
Captain JJ the damned
March 6, 2015 at 08:41
I’m ready for VR now.
hairyknees
March 6, 2015 at 08:55
You know what, all I want Valve to do is release SOMETHING O_o doesn’t have to be HL3 or anything else ending in 3 for that matter. I just want them to release a game because they’re good at making them 🙁
Dutch Matrix
March 6, 2015 at 08:57
They could be great in the educational software business! Think about it! Gordon Freeman teaches Articulation!
Captain JJ the damned
March 6, 2015 at 09:03
LOL
Then Dr Mossman would probably teach Ethics.
hairyknees
March 6, 2015 at 09:50
O_O
Admiral Chief
March 6, 2015 at 09:03
I wanted to say something about cabbages, but your comment is so very valid, that I shall refrain
hairyknees
March 6, 2015 at 09:50
Oh you <3
Loftus
March 6, 2015 at 09:03
Geoff has written it, and so it shall be!