Half-Life 3 rumored as Steam Machine launch title in Spring 2026
Despite copious amounts of hopium flowing through the veins of Half-Life fans everywhere, Half-Life 3 was a no-show at The Game Awards on December 12. However, new information has surfaced suggesting that Valve’s Half-Life 3 could debut as a launch title for the Steam Machine in Spring 2026.
During a recent Insider Gaming Weekly Podcast, Mike Straw doubled down on the Half-Life 3 rumor. He confidently said, “Now, everything I have, everybody I talked to is still adamant that Half-Life 3 will be a launch title for the Steam Machine.”
Straw further mentioned, “The window that I was told was Spring 2026, for the Steam Machine, for the Steam Frame, for the Steam Controller, for Half-Life 3. At the end of the day, the game is real.”
Straw clarified that previous announcement dates were canary traps set up by Valve to poach leakers. As for the Steam Machine, Valve announced its refreshed console in November 2025. The “Gabecube” is a SteamOS-powered living room console alongside the Meta Quest competitor, the Steam Frame VR headset, and a redesigned Steam controller.
So far, it's been confirmed that Valve’s new hardware ecosystem will ship in Q1 2026 before GTA VI. Rumors about the Steam Machine claim the console will feature 16GB of DDR5 RAM, 8GB of GDDR6 VRAM, and PC-esque pricing.
However, the Steam Machine’s price seems complicated to nail down, possibly helped by the fact that RAM prices have surged since October. Straw further added:
PC RAM prices are up 200%, 300%, 500% of what they were in October, and it’s only getting worse.. They haven’t decided on price, which is holding back the announcement of anything else.
There’s no doubt in my mind Valve is still trying to make decisions because of what’s going on on the component side.
These reports align with prior leaks as purported by Tyler “Hype Merchant” McVicker. Tyler previously claimed that Half-Life 3 is currently playable from beginning to end. Adding to the leaks, Valve’s concept artist Evgeniy Evstratiy stated that he was present in the space where Valve was developing Half-Life 3.
Further leaks suggest that Half-Life 3 will be the end of Gordon Freeman’s adventure, implying that players will finally see through to the end of the Half-Life series, with no cliff-hangers included this time around.
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