Half-Life 3 leaker explains why the announcement was delayed

Earlier this year, Valve reporter Tyler McVicker claimed that the Half-Life 3 trailer had entered production, and could be released in early November, but the month flew by without any official news. Other insiders quickly corroborated McVicker's claims, explaining that they had been told several different dates and that it was still planned for 2025, though they declined to reveal these dates for fear that Valve was trying to get the leaks out.

With the company now on vacation for the festive season, and the Game Awards over (although, the possibility of it being announced there was always unlikely), it's safe to say that we won't see Half-Life 3 until 2026, but why is that? Well, according to Insider Gaming Senior Editor Mike Straw, we have AI to thank.

If you want to blame someone for Half-Life 3 not being announced, blame the AI

“Everything I have, everyone I've talked to, is still adamant this is a game that will be a launch title with the Steam Machine,” explained Straw. “There's a concern that they haven't made a decision on price, which is kind of holding back the announcement of something else. And that's because of PC RAM, memory prices, and storage prices right now. They're up 200, 300 to 500 percent in October, and it's only getting worse.”

The reason memory prices have risen to such an extent that PS5s are now cheaper to buy than a few sticks of RAM is because manufacturers are shifting their production away from consumers to AI companies helping build their data centers. Experts such as Uniway Computer Store Manager Mark Chen have compared the change to the cryptocurrency boom, which saw the price of graphics cards rise, although this will only worsen in the case of RAM as demand continues to rise.

In light of this, Valve has reportedly chosen to delay the announcement of Half-Life 3 as it focuses on Steam Machine pricing, although Straw said he still expects the hardware and Half-Life 3 to launch in spring 2026, so it seems the reveal has only been delayed. But it's unclear if we'll ever find out more about Steam Machine, let alone the flagship sequel that fans have been waiting decades for.

The concern now is whether the hardware will be delayed while Valve waits for prices to stabilize or drop, which could affect Half-Life 3's release date, possibly explaining why the team abandoned plans to unveil it in 2025.

After all, as Straw said, the game is real. Half life 3 does exists, and it is further in development than any past iteration. And according to leaks like Gabe Follower, it even survived the winter playtests without any major delays, unlike Alix, which underwent a drastic rewrite.

“There's no denying it,” Straw said. “At this point it's just a matter of when, and not if. All signs point to it being announced sometime in December, then everything goes to the fan.”