'Half-Life 3' News: Popular Franchise May Be Coming To Valve-Powered VR Headset

HTC and Valve announced their upcoming virtual reality headset, the Vive, on Sunday, and the Taiwan-based HTC revealed on Monday that it wants to see Valve’s popular science fiction first-person shooter series come to the virtual reality device.

HTC chairwoman Cher Wang told BBC that HTC was “co-operating with ‘Half-life’” but didn’t confirm whether the game was in development. In 2013, Valve distributed a beta version of “Half-life 2” to Oculus Rift developers, so this may have been what Wang was referring to.

“Half-life” is one of Valve’s most popular franchises, though the last series installment was nearly a decade ago – “Half-life 2: Episode Two” launched in 2007. Fans of “Half-life” have been patiently waiting for another game from Valve for years, but the company hasn’t revealed what its plans are for the franchise.

HTC and Valve announced their Vive virtual reality headset on Sunday during the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, confirming their entry into an industry currently occupied by companies like Facebook, Razer and Sony.

The Vive will be constructed by HTC and powered by Valve’s Steam VR platform.

HTC and Valve promise the Vive will be useful in everyday life -- from learning to traveling and entertainment to communication. The companies also claim the Vive will set itself apart from its competition with its ability to simulate an experience that encompasses the scale and size of a full room, allowing users to explore a vast, realistic three-dimensional environment and interact with the objects inside.