Half-Life 3 artwork from Valve suggests plans for sequel

pcgamesn.com:

Half-Life 3 artwork created by Valve has been unveiled on YouTube, suggesting what the long-absent sequel to sci-fi FPS hit Half-Life 2 might have looked like had it ever actually made it to Steam, alongside new production images for Left 4 Dead 2, and a possible early version of Half-Life: Alyx.

Of all the great mysteries in the world – the lost city of Atlantis, the disappearance of Shergar, how they managed to ruin the final season of Game of Thrones – the Half-Life 3 release date is perhaps the most plaguing. Almost 20 years since the launch of Half-Life 2, there has been so little by way of official news that it almost seems like Valve has forgotten that Half-Life 3 was ever even pitched or considered for production. It’s a bizarre, almost Mandela Effect kind of thing, where we all remember there once being a potential sequel to Half-Life 2, but Valve swears it never happened.

And so, these new images feel almost like artefacts from a parallel dimension, that have somehow slipped through a wormhole and landed in our own, bleak, Half-Life 3-less universe. Posted by YouTuber and Valve mega aficionado Tyler McVicker, they allegedly come from one of McVicker’s friends, a passionate collector of Valve merchandise and memorabilia. When Valve relocated its main offices, McVicker’s friend supposedly contacted the developer to ask if there were any mementos from the original building that they could obtain or buy. In amongst the haul, they eventually found several works of concept art connected to Half-Life 3.

Judging from what’s on show here, Half-Life 3’s world looks considerably more desolate than the Citadel and suburbs of Half-Life 2. There’s twisted Combine machinery, barren desert, and alien fauna encroaching further