'Half Life 3' release date update: What's the real score on the game?

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"Half Life 3" is one game that seems to be heavily rumored, and the speculations continue on whether or not fans will see a new game installment.

In a recent report, Ars Technica mentioned that the third "Half Life" game is really coming. A file hidden among the files of the latest "Dota 2" update and labeled "hl3.txt" is said to be the new game.

The report further stated that the contents of the file mentioned something about a "Combine Pulse Ceiling Turret and "Neutral to Combine and [don't] take damage," both of which suggests, "The Combine," an organization popularly part of the "Half Life" franchise.

Another report from Hardcore Gamer mentioned that "Half-Life 3" was spotted in Steam Database official site. The news outlet mentioned that the game is hidden within Valve's game sharing program.

Although it may be tempting to assume that there's a new game coming, Hardcore Gamer noted that Steam developers can name their packages or apps however they please and the file name itself doesn't necessarily indicate a game release.

With many speculations on hidden files of "Half Life 3," fans are hopeful once again that the game will indeed have a future. But a report from YouthHealthMag wishes to extinguish that flame of hope by reporting that Valve is preoccupied with working on multiplayer games than focus more on a new installment to "Half Life 3."

More specifically, the game developer is reportedly working on "Left 4 Dead 3," which is why the future of "Half Life 2's" predecessor is not certain.

In addition, in July this year, a YouTube video from The Know revealed that sources inside Valve say the game will never be released. The video also shared different reasons why fans will never get to experience another game of "Half Life."

To date, everything said about "Half Life 3" is plainly based on hearsays and the game is still categorized as not confirmed.