Valve's new Steam gaming hardware could see Half-Life 3 as a system-seller, out before GTA 6

Valve could take all of the thunder away from release of Grand Theft Auto 6 with a surprise system-selling release of Half-Life 3, ready to rock on its new Steam Machine, Steam Frame VR headset, Steam Controllers, and the PC.

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It was just a couple of days before Valve unleashed its new Steam hardware that super-hot rumors teased Half-Life 3 would be unveiled alongside a new VR headset and controllers this week. Fast-forward a couple of days, and Valve indeed unveils not only the new Steam Frame VR headset and Steam Controller, but a brand-new Steam Machine system.

Valve could've had a strategy of unveiling its new Steam hardware first, and then have Half-Life 3 unveiled in its own -- and probably even bigger -- event, with an imminent release on PC and VR, while being included for free with each Steam Machine and Steam Frame VR headset. Now that, would cause shockwaves for the gaming industry, and rival the future Grand Theft Auto 6 release from Rockstar... a lot of thunder stolen, especially if Valve pushes huge boundaries in Half-Life 3.

• Read more: Valve's new Steam Machine console, 4K 60FPS gaming with FSR, SteamOS
• Read more: Valve's new Steam Controller: TMR thumbsticks + touchpads for unique design
• Read more: Valve says third-party Steam Machines may come with different levels of hardware

Half-Life 3 isn't just going to be "some" release from Valve, it will be the culmination of 20+ years of its technologies, without the scrutiny and control of a massive multi-billion-dollar conglomerate. That's why the Steam hardware release is much bigger than what it looks like on the surface, and the key to that is a gigantic unveiling and imminent launch of Half-Life 3 seemingly out of nowhere.

Unless you've been following the leaks lately, which have been all but screaming leak after leak about Half-Life 3, and that Valve were closer than anyone thought about revealing it.

• Read more: Valve Steam Frame VR headset: plays your entire Steam library, Snapdragon chip

Valve will have a bunch of next-gen technologies and features released for Half-Life 3, where the new NPCs in Half-Life 3 would react to you based on the weapon you're holding... using a crowbar? Well, they're not going to be intimidated, a pistol... alright... a shotgun or rocket launcher? They're going to run for cover.

The new NPC AI will not only react to the weapon in your hand, but they'll react to the dynamic environment... so say you shoot a gas bottle and the side of a house explodes and sets the environment around it on fire, the enemy AI isn't just going to run into the flames, they'll react to those real-time changes in the environment, in real-time themselves.

Pretty incredible stuff, and would make for the perfect system-seller for Valve's new Steam hardware and PC, nearly a year before Rockstar has Grand Theft Auto 6 releases.