Valve has announced a solid release date.
Half-Life: Alyx release date

Ever since Valve announced Half-Life: Alyx back in November 2019, they maintained that the game would be out at some point in March 2020. That fairly vague release window did not sway over the past four months now, which was either very reassuring that Valve Time wouldn't kick in, or anxiety inducing because you just wanted the delay announcement to come. OH GOD JUST GET IT OVER WITH ALREADY!

Thankfully, that delay announcement never happened.

Instead, we now know that the game is still on track for March. Not only that, but Valve took to Twitter today to announce that Half-Life: Alyx will be released on March 23, 2020.


If you're worried about Valve Time still kicking in, we might actually be safe on this one. During a Half-Life: Alyx AMA on Reddit from January, Valve provided the following statement about how complete the game is:

With the exception of some tweaks to the absolute final scene, the game is done. Lots of us at Valve, as well as playtesters, have played through the entire game multiple times.

Right now we're primarily polishing and fixing bugs, which is where we'd hope to be at this point in the development cycle. We're confident we'll hit our intended release. (We let the Valve Time happen before we announced the game.)
Go ahead, you can breathe more easily now. If the game was indeed done back in January, that means Valve has been spending the last couple of months polishing the game. This is, at least when it comes to Valve, something we're just not used to hearing about. It's rather nice that they already dealt with Valve Time before making any sort of public announcement for the game.

In case you forgot, Half-Life: Alyx is a VR only game coming March 23 from Valve. It will be released through Steam and no, you cannot play this without a supported VR headset. Players will play as Alyx Vance, daughter of Dr. Eli Vance. Instead of being a sequel to the events of Half-Life 2 or, more specifically, Half-Life 2: Episode Two, this game is a prequel. Half-Life: Alyx takes place between Half-Life and Half-Life 2. The Combine continue to gain strength as they take control of Earth after the incident at the Black Mesa Research Facility.

Half-Life: Alyx has been built from the ground up for virtual reality. Fans should expect all new takes on classic Half-Life gameplay thanks to VR. This includes solving environmental puzzles, exploring the world for hidden stashes, and yes, plenty of combat.

Lean to aim around a broken wall and under a Barnacle to make an impossible shot. Rummage through shelves to find a healing syringe and some shotgun shells. Manipulate tools to hack alien interfaces. Toss a bottle through a window to distract an enemy. Rip a Headcrab off your face and throw it out the window.
For those who have not yet played any of the Half-Life games, I say: Where the hell have you been? Also, you can fix that problem right now by playing through the entire Half-Life series for free until the end of March. That means you can play:
  • Half-Life
  • Half-Life: Opposing Force
  • Half-Life: Blue Shift
  • Half-Life 2
  • Half-Life 2: Episode One
  • Half-Life 2: Episode Two
  • Half-Life 2: Episode Three (ha, jk)