The Half-Life 3 Leaks We’ve Been Waiting For - HLX Files #0

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Overview

In this introductory HLX Files video, Tyler McVicker argues that the project codenamed HLX is a full non-VR Half-Life game — possibly Half-Life 3 — rather than an engine feature or a save-file format. He presents a voice actor’s résumé leak revealing the casting codename “Project White Sands,” a second former-employee résumé describing 2020–2023 work on an unannounced title, and datamined strings from Dota 2 and Counter-Strike 2 that reference an HEV suit, “offworld,” feral manhacks, and Xen creatures. He also corrects earlier attributions of Source 2 features to Deadlock. Tyler says most of the material comes from datamines but explicitly labels the Half-Life 3 identification and the single-player/co-op question as speculation or unknown, and he notes that a larger, more comprehensive video is still in production.

Mentioned events

Voice actor résumé reveals the “Project White Sands” casting codename

• Description: A voice actor’s résumé, apparently posted by the actor’s agency, revealed that Valve is casting for an internal project under the cover name “Project White Sands.” Tyler says this is the codename Valve uses to hide the real project name while casting voice actors and connects it to the HLX project. He stresses that someone at the agency or the actor’s representation made a mistake, not necessarily the actor, and asks viewers not to identify or harass the individual.
• Confidence: Fact — the claim rests on a named primary artifact, a voice actor’s résumé leak, which Tyler presents as real and says came from “a screw up by one of the voice actors on the project.”
• Category: Development state
• Source: Voice actor résumé leak, reportedly written and posted by the actor’s agency, as described by Tyler.
• Earlier mentions: None identified in this video.
• Verification: needs follow-up — an archived copy of the résumé or casting listing, without identifying the individual, would confirm the “Project White Sands” name and its association with HLX.

Former Valve employee résumé describes 2020–2023 work on an unannounced title

• Description: A second résumé, from a different former Valve employee who left the company in 2023, stated that between 2020 and 2023 they worked on level design layouts, lighting, combat encounters, and puzzles for an unannounced title. Tyler presents this résumé as surfacing around the same time as the Project White Sands leak.
• Confidence: Fact — Tyler cites a specific former-employee résumé covering 2020–2023 and lists the work it describes.
• Category: Development state
• Source: Résumé of a former Valve employee who left the company in 2023, as described by Tyler.
• Earlier mentions: None identified in this video.
• Verification: needs follow-up — an archived copy of the résumé or employment record would confirm the dates and described responsibilities.

Valve uses random cover codenames during casting

• Description: Tyler says “Project White Sands” is probably a deliberate obfuscation rather than a story clue. He compares it to other random Valve casting codenames: “Hot Dog” for Left 4 Dead VR and Left 4 Dead 3, and “jameroquai” (as transcribed) for Half-Life: Alyx. He explicitly declines to read meaning into “White Sands.”
• Confidence: Mixed — the prior codenames are asserted from Tyler’s knowledge of casting records, while the purpose of obfuscating leaks is hedged as “most likely.”
• Category: Development state
• Source: Tyler’s comparison to previously reported Valve casting codenames and his inference about their purpose.
• Earlier mentions: None identified in this video.
• Verification: unverified — casting records, agency listings, or datamined references for “Hot Dog,” “jameroquai,” and “Project White Sands” would corroborate the pattern.

HLX is a full non-VR Half-Life game, not an engine feature or save format

• Description: Tyler concludes that HLX is “a fully-fledged non-VR Half-Life game,” rejecting earlier arguments that the codename might represent only an engine feature or a file format for saves. He says it is something that seemed too good to be true and that he wanted to be very sure of before publishing.
• Confidence: Speculation — Tyler uses “seems to be” and describes the conclusion as his own interpretation of accumulated datamines rather than a single document or announcement.
• Category: Development state
• Source: Tyler’s analysis of accumulated HLX datamines.
• Earlier mentions: Tyler recalls the earlier argument that HLX might be an engine feature or a save-file format; this video rejects that interpretation.
• Verification: needs follow-up — continued datamining of Source 2 builds and evidence of a playable project structure would confirm or refute the “full game” conclusion.

HLX pre-production began before Alyx shipped and the codename surfaced in 2021

• Description: Tyler says Valve and the Half-Life: Alyx team started pre-production on a single-player title after Alyx was announced but before it was released to the public. The codename HLX was discovered in 2021. He notes the subsequent argument over whether HLX represented a full game, an engine feature, or a save format.
• Confidence: Mixed — the 2021 codename discovery is presented as a datamine finding, while the pre-production start date is Tyler’s reconstruction of the Alyx production timeline.
• Category: Development state
• Source: 2021 HLX datamine discovery and Tyler’s reconstruction of the Half-Life: Alyx timeline.
• Earlier mentions: References the 2021 HLX codename discovery and the later debate over whether it was a game, engine feature, or save format.
• Verification: needs follow-up — 2021 Source 2 datamine references and Valve production timelines would confirm the pre-production date.

Robin Walker’s Alyx team moved to the next major single-player title

• Description: Tyler identifies the Half-Life: Alyx team as Robin Walker’s development team, which in 2020 told Geoff Keighley it was trying to get “out of the Wilderness.” He says that team’s time since then has gone into the next major single-player title, codenamed HLX.
• Confidence: Mixed — the 2020 statement is attributed to a named interview, but the claim that the team spent the entire period on HLX is Tyler’s inference.
• Category: Development state
• Source: Tyler’s account of a 2020 statement by Robin Walker’s team to Geoff Keighley.
• Earlier mentions: None identified in this video.
• Verification: needs follow-up — the 2020 Geoff Keighley piece would confirm the “Wilderness” quote; staffing and project assignments would confirm the HLX link.

Source 2 features previously attributed to Deadlock are reassigned

• Description: Tyler says several Source 2 features were long attributed to Citadel, also known as Neon Prime and later Deadlock: voxel-based destruction, voxel-based hair follicles, vehicle simulation, and Xen creatures. After playing Deadlock, he says none of those features belonged to Citadel, and that references to Half-Life were eventually removed from what became Deadlock.
• Confidence: Mixed — the Deadlock playtest is direct evidence for what shipped in that game, while reassigning the features to HLX and the removal of Half-Life references rest on Tyler’s datamining.
• Category: Development state
• Source: Tyler’s play of the Deadlock build and datamined Source 2 project files.
• Earlier mentions: References his 2024 effort to predict what eventually became Deadlock; no specific earlier video is named. The change is that he now separates Deadlock assets from Half-Life assets.
• Verification: needs follow-up — comparing Deadlock build strings and depots with Source 2 updates and archived Half-Life references would confirm the removal and reassignment.

Dota 2 and Counter-Strike 2 strings reference an HEV suit and “offworld”

• Description: Datamined strings in Dota 2 and Counter-Strike 2 indicate that the character the player controls in HLX wears an HEV suit, transcribed as “H suit,” and that internal strings refer to the setting as “offworld.” Tyler cites these strings as evidence that HLX is a Half-Life game.
• Confidence: Fact — Tyler attributes the strings to specific public Valve games, Dota 2 and Counter-Strike 2, which are checkable artifacts.
• Category: Gameplay
• Source: Datamined strings from Dota 2 and Counter-Strike 2.
• Earlier mentions: None identified in this video.
• Verification: needs follow-up — searching current Dota 2 and Counter-Strike 2 game files for “offworld” and HEV-related strings would confirm; the transcript gives no file paths or build numbers.

Offworld strings mention workers, “STS,” “pentat tanks,” and feral manhacks

• Description: The same strings reportedly mention workers, entities called “STS,” “pentat tanks” (as transcribed), and feral manhacks. Tyler presents these as HLX content found inside Dota 2 and Counter-Strike 2.
• Confidence: Fact — the claims rest on specific strings in named public builds, though the auto-transcript’s renderings of “STS” and “pentat tanks” are uncertain.
• Category: Gameplay
• Source: Datamined strings from Dota 2 and Counter-Strike 2.
• Earlier mentions: None identified in this video.
• Verification: needs follow-up — locating the exact string tokens in Dota 2 and Counter-Strike 2 files would confirm the names, which may differ from the auto-transcript.

Xen gorillas and cut Xen fauna are in development

• Description: Tyler says Xen gorillas are real and that Valve has developed them, at least at one point. He traces the idea to an off-hand reference in the zoo level of Half-Life: Alyx and says Valve tested gorillas alongside Xen swoopers and Xen jellyfish, creatures initially cut from Alyx that have continued to receive some form of development according to recent Source 2 project updates.
• Confidence: Mixed — the Alyx reference and datamined updates support the creatures’ presence in Valve’s files, but whether they remain in active development is Tyler’s hedged inference (“at one point or even now”).
• Category: Lore
• Source: Half-Life: Alyx “zoo” level content and datamined Source 2 project updates.
• Earlier mentions: None identified in this video.
• Verification: needs follow-up — Alyx asset references to Xen gorillas, swoopers, and jellyfish plus current Source 2 build strings would confirm; active development status is harder to establish.

Detailed drivable vehicle simulation

• Description: Tyler says the datamines include “a very detailed simulation of drivable vehicles” among HLX’s features.
• Confidence: Fact — he attributes it to the most recent Source 2 project updates, though no build number or filename is given.
• Category: Gameplay
• Source: Datamined Source 2 project updates.
• Earlier mentions: None identified in this video.
• Verification: needs follow-up — vehicle-simulation code or strings in current Source 2 depots, plus any HLX map or entity references, would confirm.

Single-player, cooperative, or both remains unknown

• Description: Tyler says it is unknown whether HLX is single-player, cooperative, or both: “it’s up in the air we don’t know.” He offers no evidence either way.
• Confidence: Unclear — Tyler explicitly states there is no answer and does not cite evidence for any option.
• Category: Gameplay
• Source: Tyler’s statement of uncertainty; no artifact cited.
• Earlier mentions: None identified in this video.
• Verification: unverified — an official announcement or a reliable datamine of game-mode and player entities would resolve it.

Development pace suggests completion is approaching

• Description: Tyler says datamined “systems architecture” appears to be slowing down while “features architecture” is speeding up. He reads that as work happening quickly and a completion date approaching “sooner rather than later.”
• Confidence: Mixed — the architecture trend is presented as a datamine observation, but the completion-date conclusion is Tyler’s inference.
• Category: Release date
• Source: Tyler’s inference from datamined Source 2 architecture trends.
• Earlier mentions: None identified in this video.
• Verification: needs follow-up — longitudinal comparison of Source 2 depots and build activity would test the trend; no release date is given.

HLX could be Half-Life 3

• Description: Tyler says that if he goes “out on a limb,” HLX “could very well be a Half-Life 3,” while stressing that he has to be careful answering. He describes it as a non-VR Half-Life game with an HEV-suited player character that has been in development for over four years.
• Confidence: Speculation — Tyler hedges explicitly with “if I were to go out on a limb” and “could very well be”; no title announcement or store listing is cited.
• Category: Development state
• Source: Tyler’s inference from the HLX datamines and the Project White Sands leak.
• Earlier mentions: None identified in this video.
• Verification: needs follow-up — an official Valve announcement, store listing, or unambiguous shipping build would confirm or refute it.

New or changed in this video

• This is the introductory entry in the HLX Files series, so there is no prior summary in the series to compare against; Tyler presents it as a preview of a larger video still in production.
• Names “Project White Sands” as Valve’s casting codename for HLX, attributed to a voice actor’s résumé leak.
• Adds a second former-employee résumé covering 2020–2023 level design, lighting, combat encounters, and puzzles on an unannounced title.
• Moves HLX from the earlier “engine feature or save format” debate to Tyler’s conclusion that it is a full non-VR Half-Life game.
• Reports HEV suit and “offworld” strings in Dota 2 and Counter-Strike 2, along with workers, “STS,” “pentat tanks,” and feral manhacks.
• Reports Xen gorillas tested alongside Xen swoopers and Xen jellyfish, tied to the Half-Life: Alyx zoo level and recent Source 2 updates.
• Reports a detailed drivable vehicle simulation.
• Corrects the earlier attribution of voxel destruction, voxel hair, vehicle simulation, and Xen creatures to Deadlock.
• Leaves single-player versus cooperative unresolved and labels the Half-Life 3 identification as speculation.
• Notes that Tyler missed most of 2024’s datamining and that these findings are preliminary.

Notable quotes

• “Almost everything you’re about to hear is real … and comes directly from data mines of Valve’s recent updates.” — Tyler’s framing of the video’s evidentiary basis.
• “HLX seems to be a fully-fledged non-VR Half-Life game.” — his central conclusion about the project.
• “If I were to go out on a limb, this could very well be a Half-Life 3.” — his hedged identification of HLX as Half-Life 3.
• “We now know due to having played Deadlock none of that had to do with Citadel.” — his correction of earlier feature attributions.
• “It’s up in the air. We don’t know.” — his answer on whether HLX is single-player, cooperative, or both.

Open questions

• Is HLX single-player, cooperative, or both?
• Is HLX actually Half-Life 3, or a different Half-Life title?
• What do the internal terms “STS,” “pentat tanks,” and “Project White Sands” refer to?
• When is HLX targeting completion, and what does “sooner rather than later” mean in practice?
• Are the Xen gorillas, swoopers, and jellyfish still in active development?
• What additional evidence will the larger, still-in-production datamining video present for 2024’s Source 2 updates?