'Half-Life 3' release date, news & update: Sequel coming in 2018? 'Half-Life 3' VR debuting at Dev Days 2017?

Because it has been more than 12 years since the release of "Half-Life 2," the latest installment in the popular first-person shooter video game series, fans are anticipating the imminent release of the long-rumored "Half-Life 3."

While game developer/publisher Valve has been remarkably silent about its plans for the franchise, there are those who believe that the studio will drop the third "Half-Life" video game in 2018, in time for the series' 20th anniversary. "Half-Life," the first title in the franchise, came out in November 1998. Valve could release "Half-Life 3" to coincide with the 20th anniversary celebration and as a way of commemorating the event.

Despite this, there is also talk of a possible "Half-Life 3" VR release sometime in 2017. In October, a new update for "DOTA 2" allegedly contained lines of code indicating an "HLVR" player. This acronym has been taken by some to mean "Half-Life Virtual Reality." Some fans have also interpreted this as an indication that Valve is coming out with an Episode 3 for "Half-Life 2."

While Valve has yet to confirm a virtual reality title for "Half-Life," many are speculating that the studio is already developing the game and could launch it sometime in the next year.

Gaming Bolt notes that Valve has already confirmed that it will be announcing new virtual reality content at some point in 2017. "We're not going to treat Dev Days this year as the place or time to make big product announcements related to the content that has been in development at Valve in virtual reality," Greg Coomer, Valve's product designer, said at Steam Dev Days earlier this year.

"I do think that when it comes time to do that next year, that nobody in this room is going to be disappointed about what we have in the works," he added. While Gaming Bolt warns that Valve seems to have all but given up on its "Half-Life" franchise, gamers have found references to the series in the Steam database on numerous occasions.

Valve has not released any official updates about a possible "Half-Life 3."