Valve celebrate 20th anniversary for Half Life 2 with massive update and free game

Half-Life 2 has skyrocketed, creating a new all-time peak of over 52,000 players. This is thanks to Valve making the game free to keep this weekend to celebrate its 20th anniversary. The game also received a massive update combining Episodes 1 & 2 and adding dev commentary regarding the development and a documentary video.

This celebration aligns with the original Half-Life 25th anniversary which also received a similar celebration last year. Players can also pick up other games in the franchise, like the original Half-Life and the VR release Alyx, which are currently heavily discounted.

Originally released back in 2004, the two-hour-long documentary showcases how Valve created the sequel to one of the most iconic shooter series, fans of which are still yearning for a conclusion. It tells the story of the struggles of making the sequel, how the company went through a lawsuit against a huge corporation and a huge hack during the time.

Massive overhaul to Half-Life 2

The update itself wasn’t just for the show, as multiple longstanding issues with the game were fixed by the devs while also improving lighting, adding higher-resolution lightmaps, improved controls, updated graphics and much more throughout the game.

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In addition to all the improvements, the dev commentary is a cherry on top, with the developers explaining how they tackled certain issues inside the game. On top of that, the game has finally received Steam Workshop support, meaning people can share a lot more wacky stuff inside the game for the community.

For people who haven’t experienced the game, now would be the best time, as the game is free to keep forever if it’s acquired by the end of this weekend. This includes the game and Episodes 1 & 2 expansions.