Valve Sound Designer Mentions "HLX" at GameSoundCon
Valve sound designer Mike Morasky mentioned a project called "HLX" during a talk at GameSoundCon, and a colleague sitting beside him responded with a quick "Nice work." GameSpot reported the moment on 22 October 2026.
GameSoundCon is a convention for game audio and music. Morasky was speaking on a Valve panel titled "Valve's Approach to an Open and Flexible Audio Engine," which covered the company's high dynamic range (HDR) audio systems. HDR is a way of managing the gap between a sound's quietest and loudest parts. Morasky said that Deadlock, Valve's upcoming game, and HLX each have their own version of HDR.
The room reacted. Another Valve developer, David Feise, a 17-year Valve veteran on the panel, followed up with a joke about the topic, saying that "Groups is its own one-hour talk, so come talk to us about that afterwards." GamesRadar+ Feise's remark pointed to a separate session, not to HLX.
Why the name caught attention is partly history. Earlier datamining, the practice of combing through game files for hidden references, turned up mentions of HLX. Some fans believe it refers to a new Half-Life game, or to Half-Life 3. TweakTown reported in February 2026 that a Deadlock update also included references to HLX.
Morasky's own record with the series is brief. He has worked on sound and music for Team Fortress 2, Left 4 Dead, Portal 2, Half-Life: Alyx and Counter-Strike 2. Before Valve, he did visual effects work on Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings films and on The Matrix trilogy. His only official Half-Life credit is Half-Life: Alyx, the 2020 virtual reality game. In a 2023 interview, he referred to "both the Half-Life games" he had worked on, then corrected himself: "well, game."
GameSoundCon is now in its 18th year. Attendance is hybrid, with tickets for in-person sessions in Burbank, California, or for online-only viewing. Both kinds of ticket holders can watch sessions they missed for up to 12 months after the event, though roundtable discussions are not recorded or livestreamed. The convention has donated more than US$123,000 to Education Through Music - Los Angeles since 2020, and in 2026 it will give US$20 for each ticket sold to that group.
The name HLX now sits in a talk about sound design, with a rumoured Half-Life link that fans have been discussing for some time. Nothing from the panel has put a title, platform or date to it.
