Code possibly belonging to Half-Life 2: Episode 3 has been spotted in the leaked beta client for Dota 2.
The lines of code are for something called "ep3". Take a leap and transform that to Episode 3, and the code suggests the project lives on.
Not only that, we're also given an insight into some weaponry - an ice gun, a flamethrower and a "weaponizer".
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/src/game/server/ep3/weapon_icegun.cpp
/src/game/server/ep3/weaponizer_concrete.cpp
/src/game/server/ep3/weaponizer_liquid.cpp
/src/game/server/ep3/weaponizer_metal.cpp
/src/game/server/ep3/weapon_flamethrower.cpp
Half-Life 2 was released in 2004; Episode 1 in 2006; Episode 2 in 2007.
Four years and many Valve games - Left 4 Dead, Left 4 Dead 2, Portal 2 - have passed since. And now Valve concentrates on Dota 2 and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive.
The absence of Half-Life 2: Episode 3 from Valve press releases, coupled with suggestions that the runaway success of Steam may have impeded Valve's game development, have led many to give up hope.
Has the boat sailed for Episode 3? Should Valve instead concentrate on Half-Life 3?
The Dota 2 beta client link comes from Vietnam. Lambda Generation has rounded up the data mined from the leak.
Video: Half-Life 2: Episode 2.