Earlier in the week, those who were still desperately clinging to the hope of seeing a Half-Life 3 were crushed when a key member of the team revealed what the latest installment was to be by showing off the full plot of the cancelled Half-Life 2: Episode 3. It’s no secret that Dota 2, an incredibly popular MOBA, took up a lot of Valve’s interest and created a different direction for the company to invest in. Looks like the recent Half-Life 3 “could have been” reveal kicked up some old dirt and the community took to the Dota Steam page to show just how pissed they are.

There is no evidence that Dota 2 is correlated at all with the phasing out of Half-Life, and there are a million theories as to what happened and why Valve can’t seem to count to 3. That doesn’t stop dedicated fans however from telling the company, and the Dota community, exactly how they feel and who they feel is responsible. The eleven year silence since the announcement of Half-Life 2: Episode 3 didn’t really help matters either. For all intents and purposes, the franchise is dead.

Over the past week since the Half-Life news hit, the Dota 2 Steam site has been overridden by negative reviews making the MOBA an example for what they feel like was a total abandonment of a beloved franchise. Some of the reviews are intense, some the length of novels – others a simple “Dota 2, killer of Half-Life”.

Valve has become the ordinary comoany always seeking mroe profit. They gave us hope that Half-Life would have a sequel, but after Dota 2 they just don’t give a damn about the series that made them what they are today. Half-Life writers are gone, Gabe is constantly denying a sequel for HL (although he assured us it was being worked on several times in the past).

Dota 2 is the only thing that matters for Valve. CS:GO is dying as well (they said we’d get Panorama and Source 2 at this Summer, but I think the developers were fired). TF2 is a dead game. What is going on, Valve? Why are you abandoning the games that built your image?”

It’s hard to even read some of the negative reviews, it’s so covered with salt. Still, the Half-Life franchise continues to have one of the most loyal fan bases and 11 years is a long time. Since then, Valve fans have seen both a Portal 2 and a Left 4 Dead 2 and yet the team refuses to make any sort of commentary on the HL universe. The community will either continue voicing their disquiet or the hype will die down. For those wishing for another Half-Life, it is heartening to see the overall community is as lively as ever.

What are your thoughts on the whole Dota 2 vs. Half-Life fiasco? Blown way out of proportion or are you on your way to leave your own comment on the Steam page? Join in on the conversation in the comment section below, and don’t forget to check out DFTG on Twitter for gaming and entertainment news live 24/7!