Here we go again: Half-Life 3 mentions appear in Dota 2, CS2 datamines

The gaming community is preparing to sound the alarm again after dataminers this week uncovered files in Counter-Strike 2 and Dota 2 that may point to continued work on the fabled Half-Life 3. Alongside a supposed leak from a voice actor, it’s the best evidence in years that we could eventually return to the Half-Life universe.

Content creator and dataminer Tyler McVicker detailed his findings in a YouTube video on Aug. 4, showcasing numerous files from recent CS2 and Dota updates that reference terms last seen in Half-Life 2 and Half-Life: Alyx. Some of these terms, McVicker explains, didn’t make the cut for the release of the Half-Life VR title but uncovered data confirms Valve has continued to test these features on the Source 2 engine.

The data all stems from a project titled “HLX,” which McVicker said wasn’t speculated to be a new game but more like a new line of features or a file format for the Valve engine, but further digging revealed there was more to the puzzle—and it all wasn’t related to Deadlock, Valve’s yet-to-be-announced MOBA hero shooter.

“For a while, a lot of these new features were being attributed to [Deadlock]” McVicker said, but many of these Half-Life mentions are absent from early builds of the shooter.

Adding fuel to the fires of speculation was a discovery made by a member of a gaming leaks subreddit with a link to voice actor Natasha Chandel’s main website. Chandel’s resume included a line for “Project White Sands,” a game without a release date created by Valve. Chandel has a storied history voicing characters across media and television, including work in Fallout 76, Starfield, VALORANT, and Apex Legends.

The reference to the Valve project has since been removed from Chandel’s website but this, combined with McVicker’s datamined information, has sent theorists into a frenzy. “These are the kind of leaks that are always fun, a legitimate first-hand source that isn’t filtered through some influencer trying to vaguepost for engagement,” one reader said.

We’re not exactly jumping the gun on Half-Life 3 just yet (every gamer has learned their lesson there), but there’s more to the rumors than meets the eye and all will be watching Valve with keen interest over the coming months with bated breath.