Half-Life 3 has been delayed for so long that is has become a running joke, as developer Valve refuses to confirm the game is in development after years of fans waiting for any sort of news from the company. Now, however, one small gesture from Valve appears to indicate that the company is indeed working on the game in some capacity.
A NeoGAF user indicates that Valve has filed for the Half-Life 3 trademark in Europe, locking up the name of the game for the time being. While this trademark renewal does not indicate much, it does appear as though Valve is at least planning out the game, and could be working on the game, as previous leaks have alleged in the past.
Previously, Half-Life 3 was rumored to be in development by Valve in leaks concerning the internal mailing lists for Valve, which listed Half-Life 3 (along with Left 4 Dead 3) among the projects Valve is working on. This could indicate that Valve is working on the game in some capacity, though to what extent is unclear.
However, one source close to Valve indicated that the game is nowhere near ready even for an official teaser trailer. John Patrick Lowrie, a voice actor for the game, stated that he felt the game was no where close to completion, as Valve had not contacted him or anyone else for motion capture sessions.
A potential factor that could hold back more Half-Life (the last entry was Half-Life 2 Episode 2, which was released in 2007) is the slate of recent programs Valve has announced concerning Steam. Valve has announced Steam OS, a new operating system bringing Steam games to the living room. In addition, Steam announced the Steam Machines program to start various prototype home consoles that will allow Steam users to play their games on television screens, along with a Steam Controller to further transition Steam to a home console experience.
These three new projects could be the focus of Valve in the immediate future, and could delay the launch of Half-Life 3 even further. Until Valve decides to end fans suffering and shed some light on Half-Life 3, these types of announcements are all fans can look forward to.