A Valve developer may have inadvertently disclosed the codename for the next Half-Life game at a stage panel this week. Mike Morasky, a Valve music designer, mentioned 'HLX' during a talk at GameSoundCon 2026 in Burbank, California. This alleged codename has been mentioned by insiders and discovered in game files in recent years. Morasky's comment was made in a section discussing the implementation of HDR in Valve games. The mention of HLX has sparked speculation about the status of Half-Life 3, which is reportedly in active development at Valve's Steam studio. Notable Valve insiders claim the game is far along enough that testers could play it from start to finish last summer. The last Half-Life game, VR title Half-Life Alyx, was released in 2020.
