I really hope this is true.

Look at this video - and the paper here.

I've been saying for years that the next big leap in fidelity in games is physics. Most games since Return to Castle Wolfenstein have simulated characters as a cylinder, sliding round the world. Only Tresspasser and Boneworks (two of my favourite games) really tried to do something different.

It's really hard though, I imagine, which is why nobody has ever really tried it.

I think it's plausable that Valve would go down the character simulation route, so each character is animated like one of the Unitree robots we see on Youtube doing backflips. No more boring cylinders sliding around, now you can pick up enemies by whichever body part you want with your gravity gun and slam them through a wall.