It has been nine years since the gaming world last had a slice of "Half-Life." While some of the game's fans have moved on, most are still optimistic that Valve will finally provide an update regarding the third instalment in the "Half-Life" franchise.

Digital Spy has reported that Valve could re-create "Half-Life 3" into a VR game instead of sticking to a PC version and launch it sometime in 2018. It is expected that, by that time, the virtual reality industry in the market would have already developed and matured.

Valve has not yet made a full VR game, except for The Lab which is just a collection of mini VR experiences. The news about Valve hard at work on its very first VR game sparked a demand for a VR-exclusive "Half-Life 3."

However, Valve co-founder, Gabe Newell, recently spoke with Geoff Keighley in a GameSlice podcast. He revealed that the company's plans of using its properties as "tools" may end up not aligning with the demand for "Half-Life 3."

"I certainly understand why people are like, 'Hey, I remember this awesome experience and I'm starting to get worried that I am never going to get to have it again,'" Newell said, according to Polygon. "We understand it and we feel that."

Despite of Valve's awareness that fans have long been clamoring for "Half-Life 3," Newell explained that they plan to "build" on the new technology that they learned. "We have learned a lot," he added. "We are not going to go all retro because there are too many interesting things that have been learned."

Valve recently had its End of Year 2016 Awards, and they completely removed the "Game That Deserves A Sequel" Choice from its list of awards. As Game Revolution has reported, "Half-Life 3" would have been a clear shoo-in for this award. Other games that would have reportedly been nominated for that award, together with "Half-Life 3," are "Portal 2," "DOTA 2" and "Team Fortress 2."