Valve Celebrates 20th Anniversary of Half-Life 2
Following the success of last year’s celebrations for the original Half-Life’s 25th anniversary, Valve is now honoring the 20th anniversary of the iconic Half-Life 2 with a special update, documentary, and a 100% off sale.
Valve announced the commemoration on a dedicated website for the game, detailing various changes including bug fixes, graphical enhancements, a developer’s commentary track, Steam Workshop support, and the new Steam game recording feature.
“Every map in Half-Life 2 has been meticulously reviewed by Valve level designers to address long-standing bugs, restore lost content and features, and enhance aspects like lightmap resolution and fog,” Valve explains on the site.
In a significant update, Half-Life 2’s episodic expansions, Episode 1 and Episode 2, have been included. However, there is no confirmation of the unreleased Episode 3, with Valve acknowledging this failure in a two-hour documentary.
“We could have shipped it. It wouldn’t have been that hard,” Valve’s Gabe Newell admits, reflecting on the elusive Episode 3. “My personal failure was being stumped. I couldn’t figure out why Episode 3 was pushing anything forward.”
For those who have somehow missed adding Half-Life 2 to their Steam library in the past 20 years, the game is now available for free until November 18. Simply visit the website and click the green Download button to secure your copy.
Valve’s anniversary site also offers historical videos, high-quality captures of E3 demos, new wallpapers, and links to download or listen to the soundtracks of the game.