Although Valve didn't mention Half-Life 3 or Half-Life 2: Episode 3, the company recently said that gamers should expect "at least" three big surprises within the next 12 months. It was speculated back at E3 2010 that Valve's surprise event would reveal either of the two aforementioned games, however the company instead revealed Portal 2 coming to the PlayStation 3.
So without daring to take a guess, what should gamers expect? "I can guarantee you people are going to be surprised at stuff we do," Valve boss Gabe Newell teased in the latest issue of PC Gamer. "That isn't going to stop any time soon. I'm just laughing because... people will be shocked again."
He then added that "three pretty big surprises" are in store for gamers in the next twelve months.
Also in the works is support for biometrics. Valve has reportedly spent $50,000 on gaze-tracking technology to understand where game testers are looking during play. The company is also hooking up testers to biometric devices to not only track pulse rates, emotional reactions and more, but to give them a little jolt.
"With biometrics, rather than guessing [player states], we can actually use a variety of things like gaze tracking, skin galvanic response, pulse rate and so on," he explained. "Through combining those pieces of information, we can get a much more accurate indication of player state, so that's something we're super interested in."
To read more on Valve's master plan, check out the latest issue of PC Gamer.