As the New Year begins, the long-standing debate about the existence of Half-Life 3 and a potential release date from Valve continues.

Recently, there's been a few articles theorizing on the reasons behind Valve's delay in Half-Life 3, and why CEO Gabe Newell seems unconcerned about providing a release date for the title.

One theory is that Gabe Newell and Valve are attempting to anticipate demands in social, multiplayer gaming by focusing on plans around the Steam OS and the Steam Machines.

“If somebody becomes the group manager of X, they’re going to really resist it when X is not what you want to do in the next round of games. You don’t want them to sort of burrow into that – you want them to recognize that being really good at Half-Life level design is not as nearly as valued as thinking of how to design social multi-player experiences," said Newell according to Game Rant.

"You’ve had them feel like they have an organization and title tied up to something when the key is to just continue to follow where the customers are leading."

Another piece about Half-Life 3 attempts reassure fans that a release date—while probably not imminent—is coming, and we should simply be patient with Valve.

Here are some choice responses from readers.

"I have a lot of respect for them and they create truly phenomenal games but they are far from honest," wrote Robert on Gamer Headlines. "They promised us an idea and then ditched it or changed plans and they should have been honest about this."

"I don't give a crap about multiplayer social anything. I only play games for two reasons: Story [and] artful visuals and realism," added Jace.

"You do not 'follow where the users are going' because you are sending them there. The market doesn't shape itself. You sell things and people consume them."

What do you think of this feedback? Do you agree with the fans or with Gabe Newell?