Ever since the release of CounterStrike: Source in 2004 Valve has been polishing and tweaking its Source engine, adding new features and evolving it in parallel with hardware and software advances. Since its first outing it has powered franchises like Half-Life, Portal, Left 4 Dead and Team Fortress – some of the biggest PC titles of the past decade.
This constant iteration and evolution made for an engine that has kept up with modern demands, and so it has been a little surprising to see mention of ‘Source 2’, which was discovered by website Valvetime in the files associated with the recently launched Source Filmmaker application. It isn’t just some random reference either, there seems to be numerous mentions of the name, as well as some associated icons.
While Source 2 could mean all sorts of things, it is a pretty logical leap to assume it will debut with Valve’s flagship franchise, Half-Life. Apart from some light trolling around the subject Valve has stayed mum on just what it is happening with the long anticipated Half Life 3. The only announced, unreleased titles that Valve is working on are both in closed beta (DOTA and CS: GO), so whatever game that the Source 2 engine is powering is being made under a shroud of secrecy.
That is, of course, pure speculation. Of all the game developers out there Valve is one of the quirkiest, and its fluid company structure works against easy prediction. After all it is a company known for delayed product launches that went and released both Left 4 Dead games within a year of each other. Given its track record of quality games though, we can safely say that no matter what game is being built with Source 2, we will be hankering to play it.
