Half-Life: Alyx did feel like the beginning of a comeback (pic: Valve)



As another new Valve game is rumoured to be in the works, fans debate what it could be.



Between 2020’s Half-Life: Alyx and the upcoming Counter Strike 2 , Valve fans are happy to see the company releasing actual games again, and there’s constant chatter that more will follow.



Valve itself hasn’t officially announced any such projects, but there are plenty of rumours of a Half-Life: Alyx sequel , a strategy game titled Citadel, and most recently Left 4 Dead 3 .



Now it’s speculated there’s at least one other project to add to the list, courtesy of a couple of LinkedIn accounts that mention an unannounced game containing puzzles and ‘ambitious gameplay.’



Unfortunately, that’s really all that fans have to go on, although it seems work only began on it in 2021.



As highlighted on Twitter, one Michael Anderson was a level designer at Valve in 2021 and his LinkedIn profile says he ‘created a variety of prototypes with my team focused on ambitious, never-before-seen gameplay for an unannounced project.’



He adds that he ‘developed AI, player mechanics, and puzzles from scratch,’ though this doesn’t really narrow down what sort of game it could be.



Anderson has since left Valve, but artist Boyang Zhu includes an ‘unannounced title’ on his LinkedIn, which he’s been working on since January 2022. No other details are mentioned so it’s not even clear if it’s the same project Anderson was working on.




Unannounced Title from ‘Valve Corporation’ (Since 2021) – Ambitious never before seen gameplay including Puzzles @IdleSloth84_ @bogorad222 #Xbox #halflife pic.twitter.com/sKvfvxaUx0 — Faizan Shaikh (@FaizShaikh7681) March 30, 2023




The mention of puzzle gameplay naturally has a some fans crossing their fingers for a new Portal sequel, such as  MaxTennyson88  who simply writes: ‘For the love of God, let it be Portal, please God.’ Series writer Erik Wolpaw  is equally eager to see a Portal 3 happen, having pushed the idea back in 2022, although it’s never been clear if it got any further than that.



The other question for fans isn’t so much what the game is but whether it’ll ever be released, as Valve is infamous for starting projects but never finishing them – which is why there’s never been a Half-Life 3.



Over on Reddit, user mrazgrass says, ‘The statement ‘Valve is working on an unannounced title’’ has pretty much always been true, the question is whether they will finish and release it.’



One roohwaam thinks that it will release, replying, ‘The fact that Source 2 is now in a state that they can actually release games with it makes the chances that it gets cancelled much smaller.’



They’re referring to Valve’s Source 2 engine, which the company’s used for all its most recent releases like Half-Life: Alyx and Counter Strike 2.



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Others argue that Source 2 was never what was holding Valve back since the engine’s been in use since 2015, as FranticPonE points out: ‘Dota 2 has run on Source 2 for years now. Valve just runs on Valve time.’



However, joeross75 , citing the Half-Life: Alyx – Final Hours documentary , counters that ‘Source 2 at first was developed to run Dota 2 and no further proper work on the engine was made on it until Half-Life: Alyx was being made. After that, the engine was basically finished and now Counter Strike 2 is their next step in Source 2.’



Whatever the case, Valve’s actual video game output appears to have become more consistent, which could hopefully mean there’ll be a steadier stream of titles throughout the coming years.



All the attention is on Counter Strike 2 for now since it’s launching this summer (pic: Valve)



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