Is Original Half-Life Getting an Anniversary Update?

Last Updated on November 12, 2023

25 years ago, Half-Life took the FPS world by storm. While latterly often overlooked in favour of its successor, the first game has recently been reappraised, both in the form of Black Mesa and in its original incarnation.

Certainly as far as Valve seems to have been concerned, Half-Life is steadfastly a relic of the late 1990s. But that might be about to change. Various outlets are discussing a set of updates that rolled out for the original Half-Life on November 5th – updates that remain locked after being automatically downloaded on Steam.

Could these updates for the original Half-Life represent a significant addition to the game which first hit shelves in 1998? Appearing as encrypted (and thus, password-protected) updates, they currently have no impact on the game. The thinking is that this will change between now and November 19th, the anniversary of the orginal game’s release.

Perhaps it will be something celebratory? New areas to explore might be interesting; a Half-Life 3 prequel could be a possibility. Alternatively, the G-Man singing “Happy Birthday” Marilyn Monroe style…?

Yeah, maybe not.

Whatever it is, we’ll know in a week…

(PCGamesN)