Fans of Valve’s flagship Half-Life franchise spotted a listing for Half-Life 2: Remastered Collection on the Steam Database this week.
The news excited fans as this project comes from the same team that made the excellent Half-Life 2: Update mod. This may not be an official Valve product, but it does have Valve’s approval.
In 2015, community member and modder, Filip Victor, launched a Half-Life 2 Update. This mod caught Valve’s attention enough for Filip to get his own Steam page and backing from Valve. The mod fixes some bugs, improves the lighting system, and adds particle and fog effects. Players especially praised the Community Commentary Mode. Somehow, this modder managed to pull all this off without sacrificing Half-Life 2’s iconic graphics.
Emboldened by his previous success, Half-Life 2: Remastered Collection is Filip’s new pet project. Seemingly, the mod was meant to be a patch for the original mod. This addition would incorporate Valve’s two episodic expansions to the mod. However, the update turned out to be big enough to have its own standalone release. According to its developer, it will put his first accomplishment to shame.
What about Half-Life 3?
While there is no release date as of yet, Half-Life fans have acquired zen-like patience over the years. Indeed, there are those who have waited for a sequel to Half-Life 2: Episode 2 for almost 15 years now. The community even thought Valve had abandoned the franchise after the cancellation of Half-Life 2: Episode 3. At this point, Half-Life 3 has become a meme.
Half-Life: Alyx
Yet, Valve reignited some hope with the release of Half-Life: Alyx last year. This proved to be a clever marketing strategy as the VR-only title increased Valve’s Index VR headset sales. As the name suggests, this prequel featured Alyx instead of everyone’s favourite crowbar wielding silent protagonist, Gordon Freeman.
Dedicated community
With Valve not updating its own games, the task is left to dedicated community members like Filip Victor. Thanks to Valve’s supportive attitude towards modders, players have been blessed with incredible experiences such as Black Mesa and the Update mod.
Valve has yet to officially announce Half-Life 2: Remastered Collection despite the game already being on Steam Database.