The Half-Life 3 rumor mill has been worth keeping an eye on over the last few months. Reports suggest Valve is gearing up for an announcement in 2025, with the game reaching the playtesting phase by the end of 2024.

A new video on the subject suggests that the game has made even more progress since then. The title is now said to be in the final stage of production, with an announcement this year more likely than ever.

Why it matters: Many fans have been skeptical about recent leaks due to Valve’s silence on the matter. If the new report is anything to go by, this silence will be broken very soon.

Discussing Half-Life 3’s progress, Tyler McVicker shared his latest findings related to the project.

He highlighted Valve’s tendency to reboot projects after a major holiday break, pointing to Team Fortress 2’s sudden shift in direction from an aliens vs. humans theme to a more traditional gameplay style.

However, it seems the same is not true of Half-Life 3. As Tyler McVicker points out, the latest Dota 2 update shows not much has changed during the recent stages of development.

Instead, the changes are limited to small updates that dataminers typically observe close to the final stages of production. Moreover, evidence from the datamine suggests the team is currently focusing on optimization.

As Redditor Stannis_Loyalist explains, the AI_BaseNPC reference is a direct hint at Half-Life 3 since it has been used in past titles from the IP. Moreover, neither Dota 2 nor Deadlock use AI_BaseNPC.

It is said that Valve is optimizing the computing power needed to simulate the complex AI behavior expected in Half-Life 3. This is yet another reason why the game is expected to officially show up in 2025.

Despite the rumors, Valve has yet to officially acknowledge the project or tease an official announcement. However, this isn’t surprising since the company is known to be quite secretive.