After a sudden u-turn yesterday, Valve is again offering the original Half-Life, its debut product, for free on Steam – officially. As most have predicted, the move coincides with the game’s 25th anniversary, celebrating its milestone as one of the greatest and most critically acclaimed video game titles ever released – a fact backed by over 50 Game of the Year awards which it had received since its initial release all the way in 1998.
Now, we could go on and tell why and how Half-Life became the legend that it is, but we figured that we’d leave it to none other than Valve itself to do that. Apart from giving away the title completely for free to all Steam users throughout this weekend, the company also released a full-blown documentary on YouTube. The hour-long film showcases the founding of Valve and the development of Half-Life, told by the original staff who were involved.
As for the game itself, the company has decided to add some new additions to commemorate its 25th anniversary. These include modern hardware and settings support, four new multiplayer maps and skins, restored content for nostalgia’s sake (including the classic Valve intro), never before seen extras, and plenty of bug fixes.
Additionally, the previously rumoured Steam Deck support for the Half-Life is also included, allowing you to fully experience the 25-year-old game on Valve’s own handheld gaming console. The company assures that the game should work smoothly on the device this time around, so much so that it even has its own Deck Verified green checkmark.
(Source: Valve, via Steam / Half-Life [official website])
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