Valve Composer Mike Morasky Accidentally Says "HLX" Codename on Stage at GameSoundCon
On October 21, 2026, Valve composer and technical specialist Mike Morasky appeared on a GameSoundCon panel titled "Valve's Approach to an Open and Flexible Audio Engine." While answering a question about voice counts and HDR audio, he offered an example: "Deadlock has its own version of HDR. HLX has its own version, so on and so forth." The panel was recorded and posted to Vimeo, with the moment landing around the 57:50 mark. Morasky is officially credited on only one Half-Life title, 2020's Half-Life: Alyx, which makes the slip read as an unguarded reference by an insider.
Valve has issued no statement about the incident, and Morasky never said "Half-Life 3" on stage. He used HLX only as an example of a project with its own HDR implementation. Strictly speaking, this is an employee using an internal codename in public, not a company announcement of a new game.
The HLX name first appeared in early 2024, when dataminers found a string in a Counter-Strike 2 update that closely resembled HLVR, Valve's codename for Half-Life: Alyx. References later turned up in code updates for Dota 2 and Deadlock. Longtime Valve reporter Tyler McVicker said in 2025 that the game is "playable from end to end." The community widely believes HLX refers to a non-VR Half-Life title, or at least a direct follow-up to Half-Life 2: Episode Two.
Seated beside Morasky, Valve sound designer David Feise leaned over and whispered something along the lines of "Good job, you only said HLX once," which the microphone caught. Outlets including Polygon and PC Gamer cited the exchange. The sarcastic, offhand tone reads as a genuine slip rather than a planned teaser, which is part of why the clip spread so quickly.
The clip immediately renewed speculation that Valve may unveil something at December's Game Awards. Several outlets tied the incident to the upcoming show. Despite years of silence from Valve on Half-Life 3, this marks the first time an employee has spoken the codename aloud in public, which many fans treat as the closest thing yet to official acknowledgment.
HLX has still not been confirmed by Valve as Half-Life 3. The game's development progress, release plans, and even whether it will ship at all remain unknown. Morasky's slip offers indirect evidence that a project called HLX exists, but it does not amount to a promise of a release date or platform.