Many had expected to see something about Half-Life 3 at The Game Awards last week, but there was no sign of the game. Instead, Senior Editor at Insider Gaming Mike Straw has on the Insider Gaming Weekly podcast lifted the veil a little on what he knows about the game.
He says that, according to his sources, Valve is holding back an announcement due to the uncertain situation surrounding the sharp rise in RAM prices, which is currently affecting the market and will undoubtedly also affect the price of their upcoming Steam Machine.
"There is a concern, however, that they haven't made a decision on price, which is holding back the announcement of anything else. The reason is because of PC RAM prices. They're up 200%, 300%, 500% of what they were in October, and it's only getting worse. [...] At the end of the day, the game is real. There's no denying it. It's just a when and not if at this point. [...] The Steam Machine was supposed to be Q1, like the end of Q1 2026, but I'm starting to wonder if that hardware's going to be pushed out."
- Mike Straw, Senior Editor, Insider Gaming
Since Half-Life 3 is planned as a launch title for Steam Machine, it doesn't make sense to announce the game until Valve is ready to move forward with Steam Machine, which is currently scheduled for release in spring 2026. But as Mike Straw points out, the situation surrounding RAM prices could affect the launch of Steam Machine and, not least, its price. It's a very difficult time to release new hardware when everything is so uncertain - just ask Nintendo.
The good news, according to Mike Straw, is that Half-Life 3 exists and it's just a question of "when" and not "if" the game will be released.
Could Half-Life 3 make you consider a Steam Machine?