Half-Life 2 tops record concurrent players following 20th anniversary update
Following an update that brought a few QoL changes to the game, Valve made Half-Life 2 free for a short time.
Half-Life 2 crossed its 20th anniversary this last week, and Valve didn’t let it pass by quietly. Not only did Valve put out a new update for Half-Life 2 that brought some long-awaited quality-of-life features to the game, but it also made the game free for a limited time. That led to Half-Life 2 putting up one of its best recorded numbers on concurrent players since the game launched.
Valve put out the 20th anniversary update for Half-Life 2 late last week. The update included a number of features for the game, including a new seamless experience with Half-Life 2, Episode 1, and Episode 2 where you can play them all in a sequence without having to jump between games. The base game also got a director’s commentary track to provide players with a behind-the-scenes look at various aspects of the making of the game. It was also free for a bit on Steam and still has a deep discount as of this writing.
Ultimately, the update and free copy of Half-Life 2 boosted its 20th anniversary celebration to record numbers. On November 17, 2024, Half-Life 2 achieved a total player count of 64,085 concurrent players according to SteamDB. That’s the most players the game has ever seen since SteamDB has been in operation (Bear in mind that Half-Life 2 launched before SteamDB existed, so it might not be the most players the game has ever seen at once).
We’re probably not getting anything particularly new for Half-Life on its 20th anniversary, but it’s good to see the classic masterpiece get some love on such a milestone. Check out the changes to Half-Life 2 and stay tuned for further news out of Valve.
-
Shacknews
replyTJ Denzer posted a new article, Half-Life 2 tops record concurrent players following 20th anniversary update
