The long wait for a new entry in Valve's popular Half-Life franchise feels never ending. Originally debuting all the way back in 1998 on PC, the popular shooter series wouldn't get it's first sequel for another six years. As a result, fans have been begging Valve for any sort of news on a new entry in the seemingly dormant franchise, but the company has remained tight lipped.

While Valve appears to be unwilling to talk about Half-Life, Black Mesa, the popular fan made remake of the first game, has started teasing a big announcement.  Could this project finally have a release date?

The official Black Mesa website recently added a link that redirects users to a countdown page with the words "Top Secret" in the header bar and the teaser site URL also lists the letters, BMRF, which could also be interpreted as Black Mesa Research Facility.  While there's no time zone listed, the countdown looks to expire on May 5, which fans have begun to speculate is the release date.

The initial release of Black Mesa updated all chapters within Half-Life up to the start of the alien world of Xen. In a development blog posted on Steam last year, the Black Mesa development team tried to assure fans that the wait would be worth it. They said:

“So, please be patient with us as we work to make Xen a stunning and worthy conclusion to Black Mesa. Until Xen is completed, we have multiple interesting additions planned for the Steam version of Black Mesa, which we will announce later on down the road. ”

Originally announced back in 2004, Black Mesa has been in development for quite a while, which makes sense considering it's related to Half-Life. With the first part finally launching back in September 2012, fans have been left wondering when the second part of the project would be released. This remake updates the Half-Life source engine, providing the older title with a fresh coat of paint, visual effects, and soundtrack. Black Mesa was also one of the first titles to be greenlit through Valve’s Steam Greenlight service.

Valve appears to be fully comfortable with taking its time on the next entry in the Half-Life franchise, fans continue to fill the void producing a number of great updates or remakes including this visual overhaul mod for Half-Life 2. Warren Spector even came out recently admitting that his former studio, Junction Point, was in talks with Valve about creating a new episode for Half-Life 2. As fans know, Disney swooped in before that deal could be made and Junction Point began work on the Epic Mickey series of games.

With a potential release date around the corner, are you guys excited to conclude the journey in Black Mesa?

Source: Black Mesa Source