‘Half-Life: Alyx’ release won’t likely be delayed as Valve confirms VR title is almost finished

The “Half-Life: Alyx” release is expected to push through as planned. This has been hinted at by the developer at a recent Valve Reddit AMA, which is a pleasant surprise since Valve is rather notorious in the past for its delays and the phrase “Valve-time” has been coined due to that tendency, according to CNET.

The gaming industry has been plagued by delays recently. For instance, the release of “Marvel’s Avengers” was moved from May to September 4, 2020. Similarly, the “Final Fantasy 7 Remake” release date, which was originally March 3, 2020, was moved to April 10.

It’s nice to know Valve will be sticking to the schedule with “Half-Life: Alyx.” Apparently, they’re speedier these days as they’re almost done with the game.

“With the exception of some tweaks to the absolute final scene, the game is done,” Valve developers explained during a recent Reddit AMA. “Lots of us at Valve, as well as playtesters, have played through the entire game multiple times.”

“Half-Life: Alyx” will be set between the first and second games of the franchise. As its name suggests, it will be about Alyx Vance, who was introduced in “Half-Life 2.”

In the first game, gamers play as Gordon Freeman, a survivor of the disaster that followed after an experiment accidentally opened an inter-dimensional portal. In the second game, Earth has been overrun by an alien race called The Combine.

“Half-Life: Alyx” will be between these two games. The portal has already been opened but Earth was not yet totally conquered by aliens. As Alyx, the player leads a resistance movement to counter the aliens.

During the AMA, a lot of gamers questioned the game’s VR mechanics. For instance, one asked the team if they tried to render the arms of the character being played.

“We don't render arms due to our experiences with playtesting - briefly, we found that players themselves don't notice them missing (spectators do, obviously), and they don't like them obscuring their view,” a member of Valve’s team replied, according to Games Radar.

Someone also asked if, other than Eli The G-Man, there will be other familiar faces from the overall HL series. “It’s been great to work on these classic characters and seeing them in VR has really excited everyone on the team,” the “Half-Life: Alyx” team replied. “The HL:A trailer gave you a taste of what is coming, but we are avoiding spoiling too much at this point.”

"Half-Life: Alyx" will be released sometime in March though a specific date is yet to be announced. Stay tuned for updates.