Valve Files Trademark for Half-Life 3 in Europe (Yes, Really)

In a bit of news I don’t find all-too-surprising, Valve has just filed a trademark in Europe for the name “Half-Life 3”. What actually might be surprising is the fact that it took the company so long, as even if Valve were to never produce another Half-Life game, it’d want to avoid the hassles of someone trying to get away with using the name.

On that note, is it just me, or is it a little odd that companies need to file separate trademark requests just to add a number after a name they already claimed under the same category?

“What do you mean Episode Three isn’t out yet?“

Regardless, Valve chose a ridiculous time to file this trademark, as after the string of announcements last week, many fans were annoyed that once again, this mysterious game wasn’t revealed.

At this point, the last Half-Life game came out almost exactly 6 years ago, in the form of Half-Life 2: Episode Two. It was widely anticipated that Valve would follow-up to that game about 9 months – 1 year later, as was originally discussed, but it never happened. It’s been clear for a while that Episode Three just isn’t going to happen, but what is, is Half-Life 3, which is likely to continue off where Episode Two left us. And with the Source 2 engine well underway in development, I can’t imagine a better way to finally release a follow-up to the series.

Why is it every time I talk about Half-Life, I feel like playing through the entire series again?