Update: We hate to be updating this less than 5 minutes after publishing the story, but the tweeter is confirming her troll status, straight away: "Yes. I'm a jerk. But God I wish it were true. #makeitsovalve #yesimatroll". It's being said Merle Dandridge is doing motion capture for The Last of Us.

An auspicious Tweet has gone out with a photo of Alyx Vance's voice actor, Merle Dandridge, in full motion capture gear. For those not in the know, Alyx Vance is Gordon Freeman's female companion in Half Life 2 and its two follow-up episodes. The tweeter, who I'm unfamiliar with, is named Ashley Johnson and her full tweet reads: " "Alyx Vance" #HL3 #insidescoop". Merle Dandridge has previously worked in television and on stage, in projects that may include mo-cap like Angel and 24, but has no current projects... so, that means it's time to speculate about Half Life 3. Now.

Okay, I actually don't have much else to say. Half Life 3's announcement has been rumored at every major press event for the past few years, and while yes, rumors have been picking up lately, that could be for a myriad of reasons. What I'm trying to say is, don't get your hopes up until the fat lady sings. How's that for a terrible idiom? Let's be straight here, though, this is by far the strongest potential evidence that another Half Life project is in the works yet. 

So, by all means, feel free to be excited about this, Half Life fans. If Half Life 3 was in development, and that's a major if, Dandridge would absolutely be doing motion capture. Now we know she's doing motion capture and a quick perusal of her websites, including her IMDB profile, shows she's not currently involved in any other major projects. Okay, I'm done beating around the bush here, guys. I think this means Half-Life 3 is in development.

Thanks for the tip, tekmosis.