Half-Life Games Are Now Free If You Have Nothing To Do This Weekend

For those not in the know, Valve has made all previous Half-Life games free-to-play until March. This is in anticipation of the next installment of the series, Half-Life: Alyx.

The next long-awaited game in the Half-Life franchise, known as Alyx, is finally coming in March 2020. The catch is, the game is only for PC gamers with VR headsets as it will be a fully immersive virtual reality game. Alyx will be a prequel to the events of Half-Life 2, where you will of course play as Alyx Vance, a friend of the crowbar-wielding Gordon Freeman.

half-life alyx — The next Half-Life game will be a fully-immersive VR experience

Valve is letting players who aren't familiar with the franchise experience the games at no charge. This applies also if you haven't played all the games or need to freshen up your Half-Life knowledge. So until March, when Alyx comes out, you get the chance to play all the games for free on Steam. Be aware, that this is a trial and you won't get to keep the games post-March.

Anyway here's the link to the Steam page where you can access all the games right now.

So what Half-Life games can you play?

The current trial has the first game, with more upgraded physics in the Source version, but not the same as the amazing fan-made remake Black Mesa. There are also the expansions to the first game like Blue Shift and Opposing Force. And of course, Half-Life 2 and the two episodes are available as well.

The games are compatible with all PC operating systems, including Windows, Linux or macOS. Although if your OS can not run 32-bit games, that's too bad, because all the previous games are 32-bit.

If you are one of those PC players who missed out on Half-Life or need to refresh your memory, now's the chance to fix all of that this weekend. The games are pretty old by now and will run on whatever PC you happen to own at the moment.