Half-Life: Gordon Freeman about to be attacked by two Vortigaunts.
Image via Valve/Steam.

Half-Life gets mysterious update ahead of its 25th anniversary

No, YOU feel old!

There was a time when Valve could do no wrong, releasing hit game after hit game. While better known these days as the developer behind Steam, Gabe Newell and his crew got their start with the iconic Half-Life. Now, an update has been sighted, and the timing is quite suspicious.

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According to SteamDB (as spotted by PCGamesN), the original Half-Life underwent a few changes days ago. Specifically, Valve added several depots, including one for Linux and macOS, as well as for some languages, such as Spanish, German, and Korean.

SteamDB screenshot showing a list of new depots being added to Half-Life.
Screenshot via Destructoid

There’s also a “buildid” that’s been added, which could be in reference to a new build of the game itself. Clicking on each depot reveals a list of files, but the majority of people probably won’t be able to ascertain what a lot of it means (myself included). It’s been years since the game’s last update, but considering its age, there’s probably not much to do.

No, it’s probably not Half-Life 3

Given that Half-Life is approaching its 25th anniversary, there’s a possibility that Valve is getting ready to release an update for its maiden game. What that entails, we can’t say at this stage.

We know that an RTX version of Half-Life 2 is in the works, so maybe the OG is getting similar treatment. Given its legendary status, the 1998 (November 19, to be specific) release has left quite the impact on the FPS genre, shaking things up a bit with its world building and environmental storytelling.

Hard to imagine that it’s been around for nearly a quarter of a century. But it’s definitely nice to see that it’s still getting a lot of love and attention.


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Author
Image of Andrew Heaton
Andrew Heaton
Andrew has been a gamer since the 17th century Restoration period. He now writes for a number of online publications, contributing news and other articles. He does not own a powdered wig.