Valve has secretly updated Half-Life 2. Why would they do that? Could a Half-Life 3 announcement be coming?
A secretive new update for Half-Life 2 hints at the possibility of Half-Life 3 being in development. After all, why would Valve want to modernise such an old game?
This Half-Life 2 update introduces increased field of view, ultrawide support for PC monitors, and fixes to bugs that have existed since the game originally released back in 2004.
The update is clearly related to the upcoming release of Valve's new Steam Deck, which will work as a kind-of handheld PC. We expect that it is meant to upgrade the game to run as smoothly as possible on the new console.
YouTuber Tyler McVicker spotted the update in a recent video, showing off the brand new 110 FOV cap, adjustments to UI, and most importantly, supporting Vulkan rendering API. What's so important about this, though?
Check out the video:
Vulkan is an API that works way better with Linux than most alternatives. With SteamOS being a Linux-based operating system, Vulkan will help to maximise Half-Life 2's performance on the Steam Deck. All in all, this is a pretty fantastic new Half-Life 2 update!
Will There Be a Half-Life 3?
It is possible that this Half-Life 2 Update could pave the way for Half-Life 3. With Valve having released Half-Life 2 nearly two decades ago, it takes a lot to prepare the game for current-generation technology. The game needs to be ported to work on the Steam Deck, and with a variety of potential patches being needed to iron out port-related issues.
What's more, Half-Life Alyx released for virtual reality back in early 2020, presenting us with a modern addition to the series. With that game's insanely positive reception, we can be pretty sure that Valve would be looking at Half-Life 3 as a pretty solid investment.
Then there's also the matter of this Half-Life 2 update's secretive release. There was no press or promotion for this update, with it needing to be found by a YouTuber before anyone started talking about it. That's a bit weird, isn't it? Why would Valve be secretive about a release like this? Could Half-Life 3 be in the works after all? Maybe, but we'll have to wait to find out...
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