According to Valve head Gabe Newell, a recent teaser image for the absurdly anticipated Half-Life 2: Episode 3 suggesting the game will be revealed during E3 is, quite simply, fake.
The image displayed the game’s iconic lambda symbol just above the words “Freeman 14th,” a reference to the game’s crowbar wielding protagonist Gordon Freeman and next week's E3 2010. When Newell was asked by Half-Life2.net if the teaser image was a fabrication or the real deal, Newell replied, “Fake" and even reiterated the E3 surprise “isn’t Ep 3.”
The teaser started circulating the internets last week a few days after Valve announced it had canceled its pre-E3 press conference, and replaced it with the always-enigmatic “surprise.” Gamers’ gut reaction to Valve’s big “surprise” cancelation was that it might suggest Valve was finally ready to grant us all our wishes, and reveal Episode 3, along with whatever Portal 2-related announcements Valve had previously confirmed, during E3.
While I’m still not counting out any Episode 3 reveals during E3 (mainly because I just don't want to face the reality of the situation), it appears Valve has every intention of keep the game under lock and key until the absolute last minute. Fortunately, we've all had a lot of practice waiting, so that should help ease the pain a little...very, very little.
Source
QUOTE said:
Well there has been more than enough evidence against the legitimacy of the "Freeman 14th" picture which found its way into the rumour mill this week. Gabe said the surprise isn't Episode 3 & the history of the document shows a lot of tampering.
Further confirmation from Gabe Newell to our staff writer DigiQ8 has hopefully put to bed any further doubt. However we do still do look forward to the Portal 2 related surprise!
