Half-Life 3 playable 'from end to end': Valve rumored for summer reveal, winter release of HL3

Half-Life 3 is reportedly being play tested religiously right now according to the latest leaks, with Valve reportedly considering a summer reveal and winter release of Half-Life 3... yeah, you read that right, and April Fools Day was a month ago now.

In his recent Ask Me Anything video on YouTube discussing Half-Life 3 aka HLX, Valve insider Tyler McVicker talked about all things Half-Life 3 and that the game is "being play tested so religiously and so widely that there are individuals that will just talk and I personally have a policy of avoiding any story related questions or information wherever possible".

McVicker says that Half-Life 3 will NOT be a VR game like Half-Life: Alyx, and that the game is fully playable from beginning to end, with its content and game mechanics pretty much locked in at this point in time. The development team behind Half-Life 3 over at Valve are laser-focused on optimization and polishing, with the leaker teasing that we could see Valve announce Half-Life 3 in the summer, and release it in the winter.

Valve has reportedly developed a new AI system for its NPCs inside of Half-Life 3, with a LOD (level of detail) style of system for AI-powered NPC behavior, where enemies further away from you aren't using as many resources, while enemies that are in close quarters get all of the brains available to Half-Life 3. You can read more about the NPCs in Half-Life 3 in the link above.