For many, it's difficult to talk about Half-Life without a little despondent sigh or maybe even a little glint of hope. With Valve seemingly not interested in continuing the flagship entries, and Arkane Studio's Ravenholm spin-off being cancelled, a third installment has pretty much been shot down. Of course, there's the VR Alyx game from 2020, but it still doesn't feel enough for some. However, there are still two fantastic games in the series, and the original from 1998 is still being played to this day.
In fact, there is a challenge that's being set in which Half-Life fans will attempt to break the Steam concurrent player record. Videos from both Noclick and Radiation Hazard are imploring as many people as possible to log into, and play, the classic quarter of a century old FPS in an attempt to have the most people playing in the game's history. At the moment, SteamDB says that the highest concurrent players is 6,022, which was set three years ago. The event will take place on August 14 at 3pm GMT, which is 8am PST, 10am CST, and 11am EST.
The rules state that players must be in the game for at least 30 minutes for Steam to register it. They also must play the original Half-Life, not the Source version or the expansion packs, and certainly not the Black Mesa fan remake. Last year, a similar challenge was set in which Half-Life 2 players set a new concurrent player record, with the final number being 16,101. For comparison, the record before that was 12,953. While just over 6,000 players for this challenge doesn't sound like a lot, it's worth noting that, at the time of writing, just over 400 people are currently playing the game, so word needs to travel fast.
With fans still making mods for the original Half-Life, and this event being set up, there is evidently still a lot of love to give for this game. Radiation Hazard says in their video that they didn't mind that they weren't mentioned much when they helped set up last year's Half-Life 2 challenge, as it's the players themselves that have achieved the goal collectively.
As one of the most innovative FPS games ever, Half-Life helped continue what Doom and Quake began. In fact, Valve's maiden release helped push the genre into new territories with its impressive world-building and environmental storytelling. While this latest challenge may not yield anything by the end of it, it's worth remembering that it's all just for a bit of fun. Plus it's a good excuse to reinstall this classic 90s game.
Half-Life was originally released in 1998, and is available on Linux, OS X, PC, and PS2.