Release of Half-Life 2

Half-Life 2 is a first-person shooter developed by Valve and the sequel to Half-Life. Players again take the role of the physicist Gordon Freeman, who arrives in City 17, an Eastern European city occupied by an alien empire known as the Combine and run by Dr Wallace Breen. The game was praised for its story, characters and level design and, above all, for its physics engine, which allowed objects to be picked up and used, as with the gravity gun. It used Valve's new Source engine, and it required activation through the company's Steam platform, which was controversial but helped Steam to become the dominant digital distribution service. Half-Life 2 won many awards and spawned two episodic sequels.

Open on the timeline