Devious Half-Life 3 Poster Displayed at Gamescom Entrance

Fans have been asking for Half Life 3 for many years now, and after plenty of rumors and “Half-Life 3 confirmed” theories, many gamers have given up hope completely, and for good reason too. As time passed, the idea of Valve developing Half-Life 3 has become more of a joke than a real expectation, and it looks like someone decided to give us all a mini heart attack at this year’s Gamescom event by placing a large banner at the venue’s entrance. The banner actually says “Half-Life: 3 editors who played it back then,” and it was placed alongside several other banners for confirmed AAA titles. Undoubtedly, some gamers had high hopes when they saw it for the first time, but a more careful inspection quickly revealed the devious and somewhat ingenious prank.

The logo placed at the bottom of the banner seems to suggest that it was paid for by spieletipps.de and GIGA games. Obviously, Gamescom is the ideal event for this kind of sly joke, as it is officially the world’s largest gaming event by exhibition space and the visitor count. Last year, it was attended by 345,000 visitors, more than 6,000 journalists and 700 exhibitors from 88 countries, and it’s probably safe to assume that these numbers will hold up this year as well.