Half-Life suddenly received a major update on its 25th anniversary

This update will add some notable game quality upgrades and even Steam Deck support. Additionally, you can download the game for free for a limited time.

Let's start with the added content. The company said the game now includes Half-Life Uplink, a "mini-campaign" that was initially only available on CD from magazines and hardware manufacturers. "There are four maps for Multiplayer that Valve says will push the limits of what's possible in Half-Life'. Valve also added additional multiplayer maps and character models from disc CD titled Half-Life: More Data.

Valve has also added a number of new settings, including a widescreen FOV feature and support for 'appropriate gamepad configurations'. The game's user interface has been updated to be scalable to larger screens. ('We built most of this content for 640x480 CRT screens, and it looks like some of you have upgraded since then,' Valve says.) And Half-Life has now been verified by Steam Deck, which means it will work fine on Steam Deck without any problems. And it could be a great game to try on the newly launched Steam Deck OLED.

You should really check out all the changes and the full list of patch notes - this is an important update. Valve says there are some important notes at the end: the anniversary edition will now be the 'definitive edition' of Half-Life, but the old version of the game is still available on the 'steam_legacy' beta branch. Valve will also 'reduce the visibility' of Half-Life: Source.

Once you're done reading the update notes, you can watch the new 25th anniversary documentary that Valve just uploaded to its Youtube channel.

Kareem Winters

Update 23 November 2023