Half-Life 3, Portal 3 and Left 4 Dead 3 to be absent at E3 2012, but Counterstrike: GO is still a ?GO'

Written by Matt Swider on May 25, 2012

Half-Life 3 News: Don't expect Half-Life 3 to be a surprise announcement at E3 2012. In fact, strike Left 4 Dead 3 and Portal 3 off your list too. CS:GO will be there.

Valve Software has made it pretty clear about its E3 2012 plans: the company won't be officially announcing Half-Life 3, it won't be unveiling puzzle-shooter Portal 3 and there won't be multiplayer co-op fun in the form of a demo of Left 4 Dead 3. Gabe Newell made the point in a purported email to a Valve forum member earlier this month, but that exchange was never confirmed by the company. The ?Editor's Note? email this afternoon from Valve Press, however, stated ?Valve will not be holding dedicated appointments at this year's show.?

Instead of surprise announcements about Half Life 3, Portal 3 and Left 4 Dead 3, Valve will be focusing its E3 2012 on what we already know about. First and foremost, a playable demo of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, aka Counter-Strike: GO. With a summer release date for GS: GO, Valve is making sure that its first-person shooter doesn't miss E3. Because this new version of of the game will be available on the Xbox 360 via Xbox Live and PS3 via PSN (in addition to the usual PC and Mac downloads through Steam), GS: GO will be piggybacking on the booths of Microsoft and Sony at E3 2012.

?Just a quick note to let folks know that Counter-Strike: GO will be playable in both Microsoft and Sony's booths at E3. Please feel free to stop by at your convenience to check it out.?

Valve is also expected to be showing off Dota 2 and 10' UI, aka Steam's Big Picture Mode. That Steam update is aims to make the living room PC gaming experience a little more convenient as well as make the service much more controller-friendly. Hopefully it's able to fix my Mac + Steam controller compatibility woes before the official Half-Life 3 news does roll out. Valve, of course, stressed that keyboard and mouse support isn't going anywhere.

Two weeks before E3 2012, today's email from Valve seems to put the nail in the coffin on the absence of of the trio of trios: Half-Life 3, Portal 3 and Left 4 Dead 3. But these games will be announced in the near future - it's not a case of if, but when. When that happens, Gaming Target will bring you the news in its entirely.