Half-Life house Valve Software tells Next-Gen that Half Life 2: Episode 3 will not be at E3, despite rumors to the contrary.

Valve marketing boss Doug Lombardi said in an e-mail on Friday that the next installment in the Half-Life franchise would not be showing up at E3 2008, shooting down rumors that began circulating the Internet yesterday.

But, he said that a "playable Left 4 Dead will be on display in a Valve-hosted suite."

Half-Life 2: Episode 2 launched relatively recently (October 2007), but the franchise's loyal fanbase is already ready for more.

In the absence of Episode 3, Left 4 Dead will be Valve's focus at E3. The game is a multiplayer co-op-focused zombie FPS that has been generating positive buzz among the games press.

Valve managing director Gabe Newell has said, "What Counter-Strike did for multiplayer action games, Left 4 Dead will do for co-op games."

Left 4 Dead is under development by Turtle Rock and will be distributed by Valve and EA. The game is slated for a fall release.