Half-Life players are planning to break a Steam world record

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Half-Life 3 isn’t happening. I mean, it might be, but this is what I have to tell myself now in order to move on. At the same time, I continue taking solace in the vibrant Half-Life fan community, which keeps turning in amazing speedruns, and discoveries about the game’s AI and mechanics. And now, in honour of Valve’s iconic, 1998 FPS, the Half-Life fans are planning to take to Steam to set an all-new world record, and everyone’s invited.

On August 14, 2022, at exactly 3PM GMT, the Half-Life community, mobilised by YouTubers Radiation Hazard and Noclick, will log into Steam en masse, and open their copies of Half-Life. The objective is to beat the game’s all-time SteamDB record for concurrently playing users, which currently stands at around 6,000. It’s a very achievable goal, especially considering that in 2021, as part of an event called Breaking the Bar, the same Half-Life community managed to get 16,000 people playing Half-Life 2 all at the same time, smashing the previous record, and planting a flag for the enduring popularity of the sci-fi shooter.

If you want to take part, the rules are simple. First, make sure you’re playing a vanilla copy of the original Half-Life – no Half-Life Source, Opposing Force, Blue Shift, Black Mesa, or any other modded or expanded versions of the FPS. Second, you have to play for at least 30 minutes, otherwise your presence won’t register on Steam’s database.

You can share your participation and spread the word using the hashtag #RememberFreeman, and various, prominent Half-Life YouTubers will be streaming the game on the day as well. You can find more information in the video from Radiation Hazard below.