I understand all this and yet even a hit of a rumour of Valve working on Half Life 3 makes my heart pump and brings butterflies to my stomach. On the other hand

I understand all this and yet even a hit of a rumour of Valve working on Half Life 3 makes my heart pump and brings butterflies to my stomach. On the other hand, "so and so company made millions selling hats on a videogame" means nothing to me. I understand that making money is a very powerful drive for a lot of people. But what's another million when you have 100 million? Valve can afford to implement Half Life 3 (or pay someone to do it for them). It would, at the very least, make a profit, even if it wasn't a huge success. Instead they are letting the IP die a slow death. That would make me sad. The 101 million would help, for a while, but the pain would return.