VALVe has announced that they will release a demo for Half-Life 2 today at 1pm PST. The demo will first be available at ATi.com (and FileShack soon after) and an account with Steam is required.

A free demo of Half-Life 2 will be released later today. Featuring some of the amazing digital actors and physical gameplay that has made Half-Life 2 the leading contender for Game of the Year 2004, the demo takes players through some of the early levels of the game and later transports them to the area of the game known as Ravenholm. The demo will debut on ATI.com, and requires a Steam account to install.