Half Life fans have been eating exceptionally poorly over the last couple of decades, with only VR release Half Life: Alyx to speak of as a game that progresses the story within the world Valve built.
The fabled arrival of Half Life 3 was seemingly never going to happen, with many consigning to the heap of games that might have been, but discussion around a potential release has started to ramp up in recent weeks.
Several rumours have been floating around that Valve was intending to finally announce the long awaited next part in the main Half Life series, though that has yet to materialise into reality.
Well now a new world of speculation has been opened up thanks to the Steam Machine, with many now thinking that it's hinting at the future arrival of the most anticipated game around.
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Steam Machine Codename Hints at Half Life 3
The Steam Machine has made a lot of waves since being announced by Valve, with speculation about what exactly the new piece of hardware is trying to be in a world dominated by PlayStation and Xbox.
It turns out that may not be the most interesting thing about the new piece of hardware, as the machine was being referred to internally as Fremont during its time in development.
The reason this is significant might not be immediately obvious, but essentially Marc Laidlaw, former Valve writer and the mind behind Half-Life, Half-Life 2, and the episodes, published a short story back in 2017 called Epistle 3.
The story used a bunch of stand-in name, but Gertrude Fremont was a clear reference to Gordon Freeman within that story, and many feel that may be the case again here.
It's a compelling enough theory and one that absolutely could have some legs, or it could be a total red herring that we're looking far too deeply into, but that isn't any fun is it really?
It's important to take the additional context around the game into account as well, with this just being the latest potential hint in a raft of admittedly tenuous tidbits from the fan base.
There are a lot of signs that Valve is gearing up for the big announcement, and noise around the potential release is arguably louder than it has ever been. Even if we are totally off the reservation and this isn't going to happen, it's nice to hold out some hope.
Topics: Steam Machine, Valve, Half Life