Some A++ trolling going on at the entrance to Gamescom this year. pic.twitter.com/yXBOZAaPBJAugust 16, 2016
Gamescom, the giant gaming convention taking place this week in Cologne, is probably not where Valve would announce Half-Life 3, were such a game to exist. But to very briefly get hopes up, a couple of German gaming websites, Giga Games and Spieletipps, put together a sign that reads "Half-Life: 3," as spotted by Eurogamer.
I'm not fluent in German, but the three is followed, according to Giga Games editor-in-chief Kristin Knillmann, by "editors who played it back then." As in, three editors who played Half-Life.
@orphandroid @AoifeLockhart Nah, it's not a :3, it's "Half-Life:" and "3 editors who played it back then". The 3 belongs to the editors.August 16, 2016
The joke is based on a 2012 NeoGAF thread, says Knillmann, which was titled 'First Half-Life, 3 screenshots' and included three screenshots of Half-Life. Classic GAF.
From a distance, I imagine the sign could have stirred some excitement, but presumably fluent German speakers would get the joke immediately. All in good fun, then. I post it here partially because someone is inevitably going to Photoshop out the colon and try to convince you on Facebook that Half-Life 3 was announced. It wasn't.
Next E3, however, look for PC Gamer's sign announcing 'Ricochet: 2 reasons it's great.'
Thanks, Kotaku.