A new 'Half-Life' game is finally coming out after 12 years of waiting - but the catch is that it's for virtual reality only

Valve

Series protagonist Gordon Freeman (left) and Alyx Vance (right) were last seen battling the evil alien Combine in 2007's "Half-Life 2: Episode 2."

• The good news: Valve confirms that a new "Half-Life" game is in the works, with a formal debut to come on Thursday morning.
• The weird part: Valve says that it's a "flagship VR game," a strong indication that it'll only be available for SteamVR, its PC virtual reality platform.
• Regardless, the confirmation of a new "Half-Life" game ends a 12-year drought for the very many fans of the series.
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In 2007, mega-hit first person shooter "Half-Life 2: Episode 2" ended on a massive cliffhanger, with the evil alien Combine having achieved a massive victory that left the heroic Gordon Freeman and sidekick Alyx in an impossibly sticky situation.

Fans have since been waiting 12 long years and multiple console and PC hardware generations since for literally any update on the "Half-Life" franchise. 

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The good news, then, is that the wait is finally coming to an end: Developer Valve Software has confirmed on Twitter that "Half-Life: Alyx," a brand-new game, will be formally announced on a live stream on Thursday morning. 

The catch is that Valve also says that it will be a "flagship VR game." While we'll have to wait for more details, this is a strong indication that "Half-Life: Alyx" will only be available for SteamVR, Valve's PC virtual reality platform.

While Valve first came to prominence as the developer of the first "Half-Life," way back in 1998, the company's focus has since largely shifted to Steam, its wildly popular (and profitable) digital PC games storefront and social networking service.

As Steam has grown, Valve's video game releases have grown more and more infrequent. While it still operates hit titles like "Team Fortress 2" and the massive "Dota2" esports phenomenon, it's largely stopped developing new titles. Its most recent effort, "Artifact," was a critical and commercial flop that was put on hold earlier this year.

At the same time, "Half-Life" fans never stopped hoping for a new game - though hopes were very much dashed when lead writer Marc Laidlaw left Valve in 2016. Before Monday's announcement, the closest we ever got to a conclusion for "Half-Life" was in 2017, when Laidlaw leaked the plot twists that were intended for "Half-Life 2: Episode 3."

The long drought finally ends with "Half-Life: Alyx," with the title seemingly confirming that it will have at least some of the characters made famous in "Half-Life 2." But a VR title may not be exactly what fans had in mind, given that the original game was one of the most influential first-person shooters ever made.