The PC Gamer portal noticed that data miner Maxim Poletaev, better known under the pseudonym Gabe Follower, discovered traces of two future Valve games in a recent Counter-Strike 2 update.
Firstly, in the code of the updated Counter-Strike 2 there is a data miner discovered the following line: type = hlx_2d_basic. hlx in this sequence refers to the game’s codename – in the case of Half-Life: Alyx it was hlvr.
It is relatively safe to say that hlx is a game from the Half-Life series. What exactly x means (cross-platform?) and what release we are talking about – a potential Half-Life 3 or Half-Life: Alyx for PS VR2 – is unclear.
Secondly, Gabe Follower found in the Counter-Strike 2 code an entire section (about 30 lines) dedicated to Citadel – a game under this code name has appeared in rumors about Valve’s behind-the-scenes activities before.
Apparently, we are talking about a multiplayer project: in the code there are references to lobbies, bots and hero IDs, and players will be able to jump, jump over obstacles, cling to something and call drones.
Gabe Follower refers to Citadel as the middle name of Neon Prime, another game Valve is credited with developing, but blogger Tyler McVicker has previously argued that they are two different projects.
In the summer of 2022, Valve confirmed its interest in releasing new games and further developing Half-Life, but is in no hurry to share details of upcoming projects, despite the impatience of the fan community.
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