Half-Life 3 and Left 4 Dead 3: Valve's cancelled games revealed

Everyone and their pet headcrab want to see Half-Life 3 finally get released by Valve. However, everyone also knows Gabe "GabeN" Newell has a fear of the number "3". Or does he? It turns out, Valve did work on a number of now-cancelled games in the past, including the elusive Half-Life 3 and Left 4 Dead 4.

Half-Life 3, Left 4 Dead 3 and more

In Geoff Keighley's recently released Half-Life: Alyx - Final Hours on the making of Half-Life: Alyx, it is revealed how Valve actually worked on five Half-Life games, which were cancelled in the end.

• Read more: This teacher is using Half-Life: Alyx to teach math online

According to a report by IGN, Valve worked on Half-Life 3 for over a year (between 2013 and 2014), going so far as to even scanning Frank Sheldon, the actor who plays G-Man. However, the Source 2 engine wasn't finished, and the project didn't get all too far.

Check out the list of cancelled Valve games and some minor details from the Half-Life: Alyx - Final Hours documentary below.

• Half-Life 3: Procedurally-generated environmental pieces, combined with hand-crafted story moments for great replayability. 
• Left 4 Dead 3: Open world game set in Morocco. Left 4 Dead 3 could have featured hundreds of zombies at the same time.
• A Valve RPG: Only codenamed RPG. Draws inspiration from the Souls franchise, Monster Hunter, and Elder Scrolls.
• A.R.T.I.: A light-hearted, voxel-based game. It allowed for open-ended creation and destruction, much like Minecraft. 
• Hot Dog: Another Left 4 Dead game, this one with a strange codename. No details were provided.
• Borealis: Another Half-Life VR game before Alyx. Set on a time-travelling ship and featuring a fishing minigame.
• Shooter: A VR game for Valve's VR Lab showcase set in the Half-Life universe. Short gunfights made in the vein of a Half-Life theme park ride.
• SimTrek: Another VR title from developers who made Kerbal Space Program. Cancelled during Half-Life: Alyx development

While Half-Life 3 might never happen, there is some hope, as Valve's Phil Co said "The ice has been broken [with Alyx], now we're hoping to smash through the ice completely. We're not afraid of Half-Life no more."

Half-Life: Alyx is possibly the best VR game created thus far (Picture: Valve)

• Read more: Half-Life: Alyx - Everything you need to know about Valve's new VR Game

It is clear Valve haven't just been sitting on their hands, raking in the cash from Steam and titles such as CS:GO and Dota 2. Hopefully, the developers will one day help GabeN face his fears, and then we might be able to experience Half-Life 3 or Left 4 Dead 3.

Geoff Keighley's Half-Life: Alyx - Final Hours is available to purchase on Steam for €8.