A recent update to Valve’s in-development multiplayer game Deadlock has kicked off fresh speculation about the company’s long-rumored next Half-Life project.
Dataminers digging through the updated game files found new mentions of “HLX” embedded in the latest build. The term has circulated in leak communities for years as an internal codename potentially connected to a future Half-Life game.
Valve hasn’t confirmed that HLX stands for, or whether it’s even related to Half-Life. The discovery comes entirely from players examining game files after updates, not from official announcements.
What makes this particular finding notable is how the references appeared. According to those tracking these leaks, the HLX mentions are present directly in shipped content rather than only appearing when comparing engine changes across updates. Some fans interpret this as a sign the project might be closer to announcement, though that remains pure speculation.
Half-Life 2: Episode Two ended on a cliffhanger in 2007. Valve never released Episode Three, and the franchise went quiet for over a decade. That silence broke in 2020 when Half-Life: Alyx launched as a VR-exclusive title. The game was critically acclaimed and brought back hope that Valve might continue the series.
The problem is that internal codenames don’t confirm much on their own. They don’t guarantee a game’s final name, format, platform, or release window. HLX could reference a mainline sequel, a spin-off, another VR project, or something else entirely.
Datamined strings can also be misleading. They might be leftover references, placeholder names, or internal tools that never make it into a shipping product. Valve’s games share the Source 2 engine, which means cross-project references can show up in unexpected places due to shared technology.
Valve has made no comment on the datamined files or what HLX represents. Until an official announcement arrives, these discoveries remain breadcrumbs for fans desperate for any sign the Half-Life story will continue.
