"Half-Life 3" the highly rumored and anticipated game series for which developer Valve made its name finally looks like it is moving forward. The company has placed a trademark on Half-Life 3 in Europe.
The trademark placement could be the first evidence that Valve is finally moving forward on its plans to make the third installment of the first-person shooter series that has gained a massive cult following of dedicated fans.
According to IGN, the trademark was filed for on September 29 and lists Valve as the owner. It's a standard trademark filing, meaning it offers very little information other than the name, owner and classification as "video game software."
The last fans saw of Half-Life was in 2007 with "Half-Life 2: Episode Two." The game was originally bundled in the famous "Orange Box" alongside "Portal" and "Team Fortress 2." Since that time, fans have been clamoring for more but the developer was too busy working on other famous indie hits like "Left 4 Dead" 1 & 2, "Alien Swarm," "Counter-Strike: Global Offensive" and "Dota 2. In addition, all of the hardware that Valve has been working on to give itself a foothold against some of the bigger name competitors like Microsoft and Sony. The SteamOS, Steam Machine and Steam controller have all been distracting the studio from hearing fan's cries for Half-Life 3.
IGN reports that several rumors have surfaced regarding Half-Life 3 over the past half decade. Some involved an open world game set in the universe, others were of more episodic installments like "Episode 2," and some internal leaks even suggest that both "Half-Life 3" and "Left 4 Dead 3" are in the works together.
It's important to note that a simple trademark filing means almost nothing. However, for a group of fans that has been waiting since 2007, a little bit of breath in the franchise means the world.
