Half-Life 2 RTX: Release date speculation and new trailer
What would a remaster of Valve's beloved first-person shooter look like? Here's the answer.
Half-Life 2 has been astounding video game lovers for decades. With Valve seemingly not interested in making its own remaster, a group of dedicated fans have come together to utilise the latest Nvidia technology to make the idea a reality.
Following Portal RTX and Portal: Prelude RTX, Half-Life 2 is the next Valve game to get the RTX Remix treatment. Announced back in August 2023, players around the world have been eagerly awaiting more details to see what this new recreation will feature.
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Known officially as Half-Life 2 RTX: An RTX Remix Project, everything from lighting to shadows to assets is getting an upgrade. Interestingly, while the project is well underway, the team of modders are recruiting, so if you have any experience in creating mods or 3D art, then you are encouraged to apply via the Half-Life 2 RTX website.
For everyone else, here's everything we know so far about the Half-Life 2 RTX project, such as when we might get our hands on it and all the latest trailers that have hit the web.
What is Half-Life 2 RTX?
Developed by four of Half-Life 2's top mod teams, who are now working under the banner of Orbifold Studios, Half-Life 2 RTX is described as a "community-made remaster" of the beloved 2004 video game. The team is made up of people who previously worked on Half-Life 2: VR, Half-Life 2: Remade Assets, Project 17, and Raising the Bar: Redux.
It will take advantage of RTX Remix technology with full ray tracing as well as remastering a large number of models and textures. The goal of the project is to allow the community to experience Valve's classic by "using cutting-edge rendering tech to bring the game to life in a way never before possible". Once complete, it will be available to play for free.
"Using the latest version of RTX Remix, the modders are rebuilding materials with Physically Based Rendering (PBR) properties, adding extra geometric detail via Valve’s Hammer editor, and leveraging NVIDIA technologies including full ray tracing, DLSS 3, Reflex, and RTX IO to deliver a fantastic experience for GeForce RTX gamers," wrote Nvidia technical marketing content editor Andrew Burnes in a blog post.
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Is there a trailer for Half-Life 2 RTX?
Nvidia unveiled a trailer for Half-Life 2 RTX at Gamescom in August 2023. It shows off what the new textures, shadows and models will look like along with the upscaling via RTX. You can watch it below:
A further gameplay trailer was then revealed at CES in January 2024. This gives a better idea of the environment overhaul, enemy upgrade and DLSS ray reconstruction in action. Check it out:
When could the Half-Life 2 RTX release date be? Our speculation
No official release date has been announced for Half-Life 2 RTX at the time of writing.
Nvidia has, however, confirmed that Nvidia RTX Remix will launch an open beta on 22nd January 2024, after only previously giving access to select users. In terms of release date speculation, 2024 is Half-Life 2's 20th anniversary, so it feels like a sure bet to launch sometime this year.
It was announced in August 2023, noted as being in "early in development" so November might be on the cards since Half-Life 2 launched in November 2004. Even then, it could be closer to 2025, considering it's a community effort.
Once anything official is confirmed, we'll make sure to update this piece.
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Authors
Matt Poskitt is a freelance journalist who specialises in arts and culture – be that movies, TV, video games, tech or otherwise. Matt headed up the games and entertainment section at T3 (Future Publishing), alongside being found across The Guardian, CNET, PC Gamer Mag, GamesIndustry.biz, Insider, iNews, IGN, TechRadar, PC Gamer Mag, NME and many more.
