First In Half-Life Episodic Trilogy Debuts At Number 1
GAMERS SAY YES TO EPISODIC CONTENT
Bellevue, WA, June 8, 2006 - Valve®,
developer of the blockbuster series Half-Life® and
Counter-StrikeTM, announced Half-Life® 2:
Episode One debuted at #1 on retail PC game charts across
Europe, including the dominate markets of Germany, UK and
France.
Episode One, released at retail outlets and via Steam® on
June 1st, is the first in a trilogy of episodes that will
conclude by Christmas of 2007.
"After spending six years creating Half-Life 2, we decided to
build HL2's successor as a trilogy of episodes," said Gabe
Newell, Valve's president and co-founder. "This has allowed
us take greater risks in gameplay, move the technology
forward faster, and let people know what happened when the
Citadel blew up in 18 months, rather than asking them to wait
6 years."
Half-Life 2: Episode One advances the 15-million unit selling
franchise and launches a new, three-part series that leads
far beyond City 17. Half-Life 2: Episode One does not require
Half-Life 2 to play, and is available via Steam and at retail
stores around the world.
In addition to the new single player experience, two
multiplayer games and a designers' Commentary Mode are also
included. And those who purchase Episode One will have free
access via Steam (www.steamgames.com) to
Half-Life 2: Lost Coast, the interactive technology demo that
introduces High Dynamic Range lighting to the SourceTM
Engine, Valve's award-winning game technology.
About Half-Life 2
Half-Life 2 has been named Game of the Year by over 35
organizations and sold over four million copies worldwide.
The intense, real-time gameplay delivered in Half-Life 2 and
Half-Life 2: Episode One is made possible only by Source,
Valve's proprietary engine technology.
About Valve
Valve is an entertainment software and technology company
founded in 1996 and based in Bellevue, Washington. The
company's portfolio of entertainment properties includes
Half-Life®, Counter-StrikeTM, Day of Defeat®, and Team
Fortress®. Valve's catalog of products accounts for over 20
million retail units sold worldwide, and over 80% of PC
online action gameplay. In addition, Valve is a developer of
leading-edge technologies, such as the Source game engine and
Steam, a broadband platform for the delivery and management
of digital content. For more information, please visit
www.valvesoftware.com
*Note: Official North American sales data not yet available.