Source VR studios made an announcement that should make some fans of Valve’s Barnacle-laden interdimensional first-person shooter series happy.
On Tuesday, Source VR revealed plans to launch the public beta phase of its VR mod for Half-Life 2.
The mod will mark the first significant integration of VR into the Half-Life series since Alyx in 2020.
Half-Life: Alyx was Valve’s first real foray into the VR space with a full-length title.
Valve’s only previous VR release was the Aperture Hand Lab, a Portal spinoff, in 2019.
With overwhelmingly positive reviews and a carefully-refined experience, Half-Life: Alyx is a gold standard for VR first-person shooters.
The first Half-Life game in 16 years, Alyx was responsible for a VR headset shortage before it launched in 2020.
But Valve has nothing to do with the upcoming Half-Life 2 mod other than its potential hosting on Steam.
And while Source VR has the mod’s public beta slated for September, there will still be work to do.
“A project as large and ambitious as Half-Life 2: VR is never truly finished,” states a Source VR press release. “There is a lot that we still want to do, and still want to improve on, to make it the best VR experience we possibly can.”
To help keep the public informed on project goals, Source VR has a roadmap that details what the team still wants to tackle.
But even though there are more details to address, Source VR says feedback from private beta testers over the past few weeks has been positive.
According to the company, feedback has shown that the game is playable and enjoyable from beginning to end.
Source VR says that it does not have an exact release date but will notify the public when they do.
Also, Source VR says that the mod may not be on Steam upon public release as they are still waiting on approval.
According to Source VR, if Steam approves the store page, they will launch on Steam in September as planned.
If not, Source VR says they will prepare an alternative launch outside of Steam.
While the Half-Life 2 VR mod will be free, you will need to own a copy of the game on Steam.
Half-Life 2 retails for $9.99 on Steam, though you may be able to grab a copy for even less during a sale.
As an owner of every Half-Life title and having beat them all multiple times, I am looking forward to re-entering the second installment in virtual reality.