In 2021, the Half-Life community pooled together to smash Half-Life 2's concurrent player record, bringing it up to 16,000, and they're at it again for the first game. Currently, it sits at 6,000 but fans are hoping to bring that number up.
"#RememberFreeman," the post opens (thanks, PCGamesN). "On August 14, 2022, we want you to play Half-Life to break Steam charts. GoldSrc version only. No Source or Black Mesa."
If you want to take part, all you have to do is have Half-Life downloaded and ready to go for August 14. At exactly 3 PM BST, launch the game, leave it for a few minutes, and voila. You'll have taken part. You don't even need to load up a level if you don't want to, but it might be the perfect excuse for a cheeky little replay.
This whole movement is being led by YouTubers Radiation Hazard and Noclick, but it's specifically for the original Half-Life. It got an infamous Source engine port in 2004 and fan-made remake Black Mesa left early access in 2020 for its full launch, but neither count toward this goal as they have separate Steam statistics. Half-Life: Source has a concurrent player record of only 623 while Black Mesa is ahead of the first game with 7,116. But maybe not for long.
If you don't have Half-Life but still want to chip in, you can get it for £7.19 right now on Steam. Or if you've still got a disc drive, you might be able to find a cheaper physical copy somewhere out in the wild. You can find other fans doing the same on social media with the hashtag #RememberFreeman.
If you're on console and can't take part but all this has you itching to play, then you're also in luck. Granted you have an Xbox, that is. Fans have managed to get Half-Life and Quake running thanks to Windows 98, bringing two classic landmark FPS' to modern hardware.
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