The Half-Life games are free on Steam for the next two months

Alyx Vance and Gordon Freeman pursued
(Image credit: Valve Corporation)

Just in time for the release of Half-Life: Alyx in March, Valve is offering gamers a chance to play the original Half-Life games on Steam for the next two months. 

The list of free-to-play games includes the original Half-Life, Half-Life 2 and both expansions – Half-Life 2: Episode One and Half-Life 2: Episode Two. 

The only caveats here are the fact that you play the games through Steam – which, for most folks, isn’t a big deal – and they're only free for two months. Once Half-Life: Alyx comes out in March, all the games will go back to their original price.

Click the links below to play the games for free:

Travel backwards (and forwards) in time with Gordon Freeman 

So, why is Valve being so generous? Primarily to drum up interest for Half-Life: Alyx - its new VR game set before the events of Half-Life 2 and both Episodes.

“Half-Life: Alyx is set before the events of Half-Life 2 and the episodes, but the games share characters and story elements,” Valve said in a news post. “The Half-Life: Alyx team believes that the best way to enjoy the new game is to play through the old ones, especially Half-Life 2 and the episodes, so we want to make that as easy as possible.”

If you just want to play the latest game in the series, Half-Life: Alyx is due out in March and will be available for free with every Valve Index VR headset.

Nick Pino

Nick Pino is Managing Editor, TV and AV for TechRadar's sister site, Tom's Guide. Previously, he was the Senior Editor of Home Entertainment at TechRadar, covering TVs, headphones, speakers, video games, VR and streaming devices. He's also written for GamesRadar+, Official Xbox Magazine, PC Gamer and other outlets over the last decade, and he has a degree in computer science he's not using if anyone wants it.