What you need to know
- Half-Life: Alyx releases on Steam on March 23, 2020 at 10:00 am PDT/1:00 pm EDT/5:00 pm GMT.
- Half-Life: Alyx is Valve's first flagship VR title and can only be played via a VR headset on the PC.
- This is the first of three flagship VR titles expected from Valve, and the first Half-Life game in well over a decade.
Update 1:00 pm EST: Half-Life: Alyx is now available on Steam for all PC VR headsets.
If you're anything like me, you've been eagerly awaiting a new Half-Life game since the cliffhanger ending of Half-Life 2: Episode Two. Thankfully, that wait is over, as Half-Life: Alyx is finally available today, March 23, 2020. The big catch is that it wasn't available at midnight like you may have assumed. Rather, Valve will be unlocking the title today at 10:00 am PDT/1:00 pm EDT/5:00 pm GMT.
If you have already purchased Half-Life: Alyx on Steam, you can preload it right now by clicking on the listing in your Steam library and selecting the preload button, which is in place of the normal play button. Once the aforementioned time hits, that preload button will change into a glorious play button, in which you'll finally be able to experience a brand new Half-Life story, this time from the perspective of Alyx instead of Gordon Freeman.
Half-Life: Alyx: Everything you need to know
The change in perspective from Gordon to Alyx comes with a massive change in how players will interact with the game. In case you weren't aware, Half-Life: Alyx is a VR-exclusive title, meaning you'll need one of these wonderful VR headsets to be able to experience Half-Life: Alyx on your Windows-based gaming PC.
Valve has been working diligently on Half-Life: Alyx for several years, and says that this is just one of three major VR games coming from the company in the near future. Despite shocking a few folks over the fact that this is a VR-only title, Valve says it hopes Alyx is the return of the series, not the end, meaning folks looking for a non-VR Half-Life adventure in the future may be pleasantly surprised.
The story we never knew
Half-Life: Alyx is a bold comeback for Valve's previously-stagnant AAA franchise, described by Valve itself as its "flagship VR game."
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