Valve’s long-awaited Half Life 3 could be the ‘killer app’ that puts the wind in the sails of the Steam OS, Steam Machines and Steam Controller in the coming months. It’s been almost a decade since Half Life 2 was released and the rumours of a third episode began. Now Half Life 3 seems to be slowly materialising into view as it has made an appearance in two unrelated, diverse sources, noted by members of NeoGAF community.
European patent and trademark application
This first scrap of new evidence comes from a recent trademark application. On 29th September the European Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market listed Half Life 3 as a trademark. Casalonga & Associés, a legal patent and trademark firm in Alicante, Spain, filed for the trademark on behalf of Valve.
There’s quite a bit of information here on the patent application confirming it’s a game and not a movie, range of plush toys, PEZ dispenser or anything else under development. Also we have the names and contact details of Valve and its lawyers confirmed on the document. Surely we should expect a similar document to show up shortly in the US.
Valve’s bug tracker lists Half Life 3
Shortly after the above revelation another eagle eyed NeoGAF community member spotted that Half Life 3 was listed in the Valve bug tracker. You can see it below in the screen shot, listed as Half-Life 3, and there’s also an entry for Half-Life 3 Core. Since this screenshot was snapped the ‘evidence’ has been removed.
As mentioned in the intro a new Half Life game could be a barnstorming launch title for the release of the Steam Machines in early 2014. There are also rumours that Left 4 Dead 3 might arrive to help along the sales of Valve’s new machines.
