Valve has become one of the most popular game companies out there. Almost every one of their titles is fun a romp, usually involving tongue-in-cheek stories or wild multiplayer gameplay. The series that got Valve on the map was the Half-Life games - the second game in particular earned them a lot of fans. So it's no surprise that Half-Life 3 is a most-wanted title - unfortunately, we've got bad news: It isn't happening.

Rumors have been spreading regarding a Half-Life 3 - but one story in particular really got the speculation machine going. A member of the Valve forums by the name of ryuuk posted a message claiming that Half-Life 3 was in development and used the departure of a member of Valve's team as evidence.

The forum member claimed that he was a "freelance artist," and that he worked through a studio in Seattle, via the internet. He was browsing through the client access system on their site when he came across the resume of one Mike Dussault, a former employee of Valve. Said resume revealed that there was actually going to be a Half-Life 2: Episode 3, but that was scrapped when Valve decided to no longer work on episodic titles. There was another Half-Life title that Dussault was the technical advisor on, made outside of Valve, but that was cancelled as well. The big piece of information, however, mentioned that Dussault worked on Half-Life 3's world programming - and scripting system.

As a result of the post, "ryuuk" was banned from the Valve forums - and his posts were deleted. However, this only further stirred the pot. Not only that, but it was revealed that Mike Dussault was working for Valve, and his departure in 2010 coincided with ryuuk's story. Though there was nothing concrete, that didn't stop fans from believing the story.

Unfortunately, Valve's own Doug Lombardi has came forward to tell his version of things. Lombardi disproved ryuuk's story, calling it "fiction," and asserting that the only thing ryuuk got right was that Mr. Dussault did in fact leave Valve in 2010.

Certainly sad news for those looking forward to another Half-Life, but perhaps all is not lost. Lombardi's specifically said that this rumor was untrue. It may not disprove the existence of Half-Life 3 entirely.

Do you think Valve is working on Half-Life 3? What would you like to see in the game?

Source: The Escapist