Valve developer publicly mentions “HLX” – Is this Half-Life 3?

Valve’s mysterious “HLX” project has received a public mention – It’s real!

Valve’s mysterious HLX project has been known for some time, but Valve has never mentioned it. Thanks to Valve’s composer Mike Morasky, the project has been mentioned publicly for the first time at GameSoundCon 2026. Morasky referred to the HDR implementations of Valve’s Deadlock and HLX projects. Sadly, it remains unknown what the HLX project is. That said, many expect HL to stand for “Half-Life”.1

I think Deadlock has their own version of HDR. HLX has its own version, so on and so forth.

– Valve Composer Mike Morasky

The HLX name was mined years ago from Valve’s Source 2 engine. Since then, scattered references to the game have appeared in Valve projects. Many expected the game to be Half-Life 3, a project that would launch alongside Valve’s Steam Machine. This didn’t happen, but this fresh mention of the game has gamers intrigued.

Mike Morasky, a developer from Valve, directly mentioned HLX (rumored to be Half-Life 3) during his Q&A session. pic.twitter.com/6ZeaYaD9tb

— ‎Gabe Follower (@gabefollower) October 22, 2026

Sadly, nothing about HLX has been confirmed aside from its HDR support. The project has not been officially linked to Half-Life or any other Valve IP. HLX remains a codename for an unknown Valve project, and while gamers would love for it to be Half-Life 3, this is far from confirmed.

So what have we learned about HLX? Nothing really… Aside from confirming it exists and remains in development, there is not much more to discuss. However, between Deadlock and HLX, it is good to see that Valve has several games in development. Will Valve make an official announcement soon? Probably not, but it is possible.

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