'Half-Life 3' ARG in Surgeon Simulator 2013 explained

Surgeon Simulator 2013's Team Fortress 2 DLC was said to contain some kind of Korean Half-Life 3 ARG tease a while ago. I recently asked developer Bossa Studios for some clarity and it turns out the whole thing was bollocks.

As part of a feature on Surgeon Simulator 2013's mad viral spread, I asked Bossa co-founder and gamer-in-chief Henrique Olifiers (ace job title mate!) what was up with the weird Korean artefact found within the DLC.

Without even a shred of evidence that it had anything at all to do with Valve's franchise, gamers leapt on the rumour mill like a hungry hamster running on a wheel to nowhere, while its owner dangles a fistful of straw in front of its glassy peepers.

Indulge me here, it's Friday morning.

Olifiers said, "Oh, that was an interesting one to wake up to. One day we're pushing out an update foreshadowing an upcoming DLC, next day we're 'announcing Half Life 3'.

"As part of the ongoing puzzle, we wanted to hide a clue in a foreign language that one cannot directly translate via Google. Eastern characters are perfect for that. It happened that the Half-Life 2 Korean bug happened right at the moment we were discussing the ARG, so Korean, there you go. Why not?

"Well, not, because a lot of people read the most amazing things into it, and it fed the Half-Life 3 conspiracy theory overnight. We had to scramble to clarify it the very next day, but the web is fast: by then, a lot of people has picked up on it.

"Afterwards it was fun to read how it all evolved and how passionate folks were about it, but it left us a bit sad to think that it might have bothered some of the most die-hard fans of Half Life, even if unintentionally. Anyway, lesson learned: no more Korean."

There you go folks. It wasn't Half-Life 3-related, but what does it have to do with the overarching mystery Olifiers spoke of?

F**k knows. I'm stumped mate.