Valve Celebrates Half-Life's 25th Anniversary with Special Promotions and Major Update

Iconic first-person shooter Half-Life marks its 25th anniversary with fanfare, as Valve releases a comprehensive update packed with new content and enhancements, alongside a limited-time offer to get the game for free on Steam. The update includes Steam Deck verification, improved in-game menu design reminiscent of the 1998 original, and UI scaling for higher resolutions. Gamers have until November 20 to claim their free copy of Half-Life on Steam.

The update isn't just for nostalgia; it introduces new and classic Half-Life Deathmatch maps, additional player models, Steam Networking support for easier multiplayer connections, and improved physics, among other gameplay tweaks. Valve also restored the original main menu design, implemented nostalgia-evoking elements like the original Valve intro video, and addressed various multiplayer balancing and rendering enhancements.

Valve has published a documentary featuring the original development team and their memories of creating Half-Life. The game, released on November 19, 1998, profoundly influenced the FPS genre and gaming industry, eventually leading to the creation of popular mods and games like Counter-Strike and the modern remake Black Mesa.

This significant update is dubbed as the definitive version of Half-Life, with legacy builds archived for compatibility purposes. Valve is guiding new players towards this version and reducing the visibility of Half-Life: Source on the Steam Store, though it remains available for the Source engine community.