Summary

  • Half-Life: Blue Shift hits new peak player count on Steam 23 years after release thanks to fan-led event #ShiftingTheBar.
  • Despite mixed reviews in 2001, gamers now appreciate seeing the original story through new eyes of Barney Calhoun.
  • Although Half-Life 3 rumors persist, players turn to other titles like Half-Life: Alyx for their fix in the franchise.

Half-Life: Blue Shift, a 2001 expansion to the original Half-Life, has reached a new peak player count on Steam, 23 years after its original launch. Half-Life received two expansions after its release back in 1998, with Blue Shift following on from 1999's Opposing Force.

Developed by Gearbox Software, Half-Life: Blue Shift was an exciting expansion to the base game. It tells the same story as the original Half-Life, but instead focuses on Black Mesa security guard, Barney Calhoun, who would later be featured as a main character in Half-Life 2. Some would even describe him as one of the iconic Valve characters, despite not having as much screen time as others. Seeing the same story through a different set of eyes was a fascinating approach, and while it received mixed reviews upon its release in 2001, it's easy to look fondly upon its new ideas over two decades later.

Thanks to a fan-led event titled #ShiftingTheBar by Lambda Generation, Half-Life: Blue Shift has reached a new all-time high player count on Steam, with 3,145 jumping on to try it 23 years after its launch. Over the last month, this expansion to one of the best FPS games ever made has hovered between 60 and 100 players, making this quite a substantial jump for the game.

Half-Life: Blue Shift Hits New Peak Player Count After 23 Years

Looking at the history of Half-Life: Blue Shift, the game previously saw boosts in January 2020 and November 2023, where it saw peaks of 420 and 319 respectively. The #ShiftingTheBar event has demolished those numbers completely, temporarily breathing new life into this classic Valve game. While this event didn't quite manage to reach its stretch goals of 5,000 and 10,000 players, it's still an impressive achievement to break the record like this. The numbers have since settled, but it'll be interesting to see if Lambda Generation does anything like this community event again in the future.

It's almost two decades since the release of Half-Life 2, and the wait goes on for a third mainline entry into the series. Although it's no secret that the project has existed in several different forms at Valve over the years, the developer has never managed to go ahead with something it's happy with. Half-Life: Alyx is the closest thing players have to a modern game in the franchise, although its VR exclusivity means many gamers still can't experience it. A recent leak revealed that Half-Life 3 may once again be in development at Valve, although everything is speculation until the developer reveals anything officially.

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Half-Life Tag Page Cover Art

Half-Life
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Shooter
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Systems
PC-1 PlayStation-1
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Released
November 19, 1998
ESRB
M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Language
Developer(s)
Valve
Publisher(s)
Sierra Studios
Engine
goldsrc, source
Multiplayer
Local Multiplayer
Franchise
Half-Life
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WHERE TO PLAY

DIGITAL
PHYSICAL
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Named Game of the Year by over 50 publications, Valve's debut title blends action and adventure with award-winning technology to create a frighteningly realistic world where players must think to survive. Also includes an exciting multiplayer mode that allows you to play against friends and enemies around the world.

Platform(s)
PC, PS2, Linux, macOS
Genre(s)
Shooter