The Game Census
Half-Life cover art

Half-Life

Valve · 1998-11-19

Steam

Action

Franchise: Half-Life · Modes: Single player, Multiplayer · Perspectives: First person

Releases: Nov 19, 1998 (PC (Microsoft Windows)), Feb 14, 2013 (Linux), Feb 14, 2013 (Mac)

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.

Half-Life is a $9.99 Action game released in 1998, with an estimated 10,000,000 .. 20,000,000 owners and Overwhelmingly Positive (96% of 164111 reviews).

568
playing now
96%
positive of 165k reviews
Overwhelmingly Positive
steam's rating (official)
10,000,000–20,000,000
owners (SteamSpy est.)
128
twitch viewers (latest)
21.3
viewers/channel (concentration)
80/100
critic score (1 outlets, IGDB)
88/100
IGDB user rating (2910 ratings)
30
Nexus mods (17k downloads)
12h
to beat · rushed 7.1h · completionist 19h
platinum
deck/linux tier (ProtonDB)
Verified
Steam Deck (Valve)
SteamOS: Playable
$9.99
steam price (US)

568 players in-game as of 2026-10-14 10:00 UTC (census sample)

Half-Life is a 1998 first-person shooter (FPS) game developed by Valve Corporation and published by Sierra Studios for Windows. It was Valve's debut product and the first game in the Half-Life series. The player controls Gordon Freeman, a theoretical physicist who must escape from the Black Mesa Research Facility after it is overrun by aliens following a disastrous scientific experiment. Its gameplay consists of combat, exploration and puzzles.

Trailer

Half-Life trailer thumbnail

Half-Life (1998) - Official Trailer

≈1,000,000 YouTube results for this game's trailer search

Health check

Healthy
  • · 568 players in-game at the last census sample.
  • · 7,781 reviews in the last 8 weeks (~973/week).
  • · Review velocity down 13% vs the prior 8 weeks.
  • · Top 1% of 27,530 Action games in the census by review count.

Health tier since 2026-08-29

Estimated sales: 6.6M–13M copies

Review-multiple estimate from 164,996 total reviews — how this is computed.

Current store prices

Steam$1.99-80%

Deal snapshots via CheapShark, refreshed daily.

All-time low: $0.99 at Steam (2017-06-22)via IsThereAnyDeal

12-month high $9.99 · on sale 12 of 17 observed days (census price snapshots)

Review momentum

PositiveNegative
7.2k7.2k20182026Week of 2018-03-01: 304 positiveWeek of 2018-03-01: 16 negativeWeek of 2018-04-01: 243 positiveWeek of 2018-04-01: 9 negativeWeek of 2018-05-01: 278 positiveWeek of 2018-05-01: 15 negativeWeek of 2018-06-01: 399 positiveWeek of 2018-06-01: 23 negativeWeek of 2018-07-01: 488 positiveWeek of 2018-07-01: 41 negativeWeek of 2018-08-01: 226 positiveWeek of 2018-08-01: 20 negativeWeek of 2018-09-01: 186 positiveWeek of 2018-09-01: 9 negativeWeek of 2018-10-01: 158 positiveWeek of 2018-10-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2018-11-01: 1,216 positiveWeek of 2018-11-01: 12 negativeWeek of 2018-12-01: 299 positiveWeek of 2018-12-01: 15 negativeWeek of 2019-01-01: 350 positiveWeek of 2019-01-01: 12 negativeWeek of 2019-02-01: 283 positiveWeek of 2019-02-01: 17 negativeWeek of 2019-03-01: 226 positiveWeek of 2019-03-01: 7 negativeWeek of 2019-04-01: 164 positiveWeek of 2019-04-01: 10 negativeWeek of 2019-05-01: 196 positiveWeek of 2019-05-01: 11 negativeWeek of 2019-06-01: 1,159 positiveWeek of 2019-06-01: 16 negativeWeek of 2019-07-01: 1,387 positiveWeek of 2019-07-01: 41 negativeWeek of 2019-08-01: 259 positiveWeek of 2019-08-01: 10 negativeWeek of 2019-09-01: 201 positiveWeek of 2019-09-01: 7 negativeWeek of 2019-10-01: 322 positiveWeek of 2019-10-01: 13 negativeWeek of 2019-11-01: 1,698 positiveWeek of 2019-11-01: 38 negativeWeek of 2019-12-01: 1,817 positiveWeek of 2019-12-01: 49 negativeWeek of 2020-01-01: 1,171 positiveWeek of 2020-01-01: 48 negativeWeek of 2020-02-01: 681 positiveWeek of 2020-02-01: 26 negativeWeek of 2020-03-01: 1,239 positiveWeek of 2020-03-01: 43 negativeWeek of 2020-04-01: 1,399 positiveWeek of 2020-04-01: 43 negativeWeek of 2020-05-01: 946 positiveWeek of 2020-05-01: 42 negativeWeek of 2020-06-01: 1,015 positiveWeek of 2020-06-01: 31 negativeWeek of 2020-07-01: 1,594 positiveWeek of 2020-07-01: 66 negativeWeek of 2020-08-01: 873 positiveWeek of 2020-08-01: 41 negativeWeek of 2020-09-01: 670 positiveWeek of 2020-09-01: 27 negativeWeek of 2020-10-01: 741 positiveWeek of 2020-10-01: 13 negativeWeek of 2020-11-01: 1,693 positiveWeek of 2020-11-01: 45 negativeWeek of 2020-12-01: 1,684 positiveWeek of 2020-12-01: 52 negativeWeek of 2021-01-01: 1,820 positiveWeek of 2021-01-01: 60 negativeWeek of 2021-02-01: 1,110 positiveWeek of 2021-02-01: 35 negativeWeek of 2021-03-01: 1,018 positiveWeek of 2021-03-01: 30 negativeWeek of 2021-04-01: 907 positiveWeek of 2021-04-01: 40 negativeWeek of 2021-05-01: 903 positiveWeek of 2021-05-01: 39 negativeWeek of 2021-06-01: 1,097 positiveWeek of 2021-06-01: 42 negativeWeek of 2021-07-01: 1,756 positiveWeek of 2021-07-01: 72 negativeWeek of 2021-08-01: 990 positiveWeek of 2021-08-01: 58 negativeWeek of 2021-09-01: 796 positiveWeek of 2021-09-01: 36 negativeWeek of 2021-10-01: 608 positiveWeek of 2021-10-01: 31 negativeWeek of 2021-11-01: 1,236 positiveWeek of 2021-11-01: 41 negativeWeek of 2021-12-01: 1,444 positiveWeek of 2021-12-01: 55 negativeWeek of 2022-01-01: 1,534 positiveWeek of 2022-01-01: 74 negativeWeek of 2022-02-01: 1,108 positiveWeek of 2022-02-01: 48 negativeWeek of 2022-03-01: 783 positiveWeek of 2022-03-01: 39 negativeWeek of 2022-04-01: 644 positiveWeek of 2022-04-01: 27 negativeWeek of 2022-05-01: 684 positiveWeek of 2022-05-01: 22 negativeWeek of 2022-06-01: 952 positiveWeek of 2022-06-01: 39 negativeWeek of 2022-07-01: 1,365 positiveWeek of 2022-07-01: 62 negativeWeek of 2022-08-01: 1,244 positiveWeek of 2022-08-01: 38 negativeWeek of 2022-09-01: 604 positiveWeek of 2022-09-01: 43 negativeWeek of 2022-10-01: 593 positiveWeek of 2022-10-01: 27 negativeWeek of 2022-11-01: 1,596 positiveWeek of 2022-11-01: 50 negativeWeek of 2022-12-01: 1,807 positiveWeek of 2022-12-01: 100 negativeWeek of 2023-01-01: 1,860 positiveWeek of 2023-01-01: 100 negativeWeek of 2023-02-01: 990 positiveWeek of 2023-02-01: 48 negativeWeek of 2023-03-01: 1,533 positiveWeek of 2023-03-01: 67 negativeWeek of 2023-04-01: 1,115 positiveWeek of 2023-04-01: 47 negativeWeek of 2023-05-01: 933 positiveWeek of 2023-05-01: 63 negativeWeek of 2023-06-01: 900 positiveWeek of 2023-06-01: 51 negativeWeek of 2023-07-01: 2,237 positiveWeek of 2023-07-01: 110 negativeWeek of 2023-08-01: 1,107 positiveWeek of 2023-08-01: 70 negativeWeek of 2023-09-01: 1,573 positiveWeek of 2023-09-01: 82 negativeWeek of 2023-10-01: 1,036 positiveWeek of 2023-10-01: 62 negativeWeek of 2023-11-01: 7,220 positiveWeek of 2023-11-01: 179 negativeWeek of 2023-12-01: 2,041 positiveWeek of 2023-12-01: 99 negativeWeek of 2024-01-01: 1,615 positiveWeek of 2024-01-01: 67 negativeWeek of 2024-02-01: 965 positiveWeek of 2024-02-01: 35 negativeWeek of 2024-03-01: 1,296 positiveWeek of 2024-03-01: 50 negativeWeek of 2024-04-01: 948 positiveWeek of 2024-04-01: 43 negativeWeek of 2024-05-01: 802 positiveWeek of 2024-05-01: 39 negativeWeek of 2024-06-01: 1,010 positiveWeek of 2024-06-01: 91 negativeWeek of 2024-07-01: 1,511 positiveWeek of 2024-07-01: 68 negativeWeek of 2024-08-01: 1,038 positiveWeek of 2024-08-01: 47 negativeWeek of 2024-09-01: 739 positiveWeek of 2024-09-01: 37 negativeWeek of 2024-10-01: 682 positiveWeek of 2024-10-01: 29 negativeWeek of 2024-11-01: 3,338 positiveWeek of 2024-11-01: 124 negativeWeek of 2024-12-01: 2,226 positiveWeek of 2024-12-01: 85 negativeWeek of 2025-01-01: 1,369 positiveWeek of 2025-01-01: 61 negativeWeek of 2025-02-01: 841 positiveWeek of 2025-02-01: 48 negativeWeek of 2025-03-01: 1,111 positiveWeek of 2025-03-01: 48 negativeWeek of 2025-04-01: 702 positiveWeek of 2025-04-01: 34 negativeWeek of 2025-05-01: 731 positiveWeek of 2025-05-01: 27 negativeWeek of 2025-06-01: 860 positiveWeek of 2025-06-01: 47 negativeWeek of 2025-07-01: 1,104 positiveWeek of 2025-07-01: 65 negativeWeek of 2025-08-01: 783 positiveWeek of 2025-08-01: 43 negativeWeek of 2025-09-01: 582 positiveWeek of 2025-09-01: 33 negativeWeek of 2025-10-01: 898 positiveWeek of 2025-10-01: 31 negativeWeek of 2025-11-01: 1,192 positiveWeek of 2025-11-01: 49 negativeWeek of 2025-12-01: 1,547 positiveWeek of 2025-12-01: 74 negativeWeek of 2026-01-01: 1,529 positiveWeek of 2026-01-01: 81 negativeWeek of 2026-02-01: 896 positiveWeek of 2026-02-01: 42 negativeWeek of 2026-03-01: 1,037 positiveWeek of 2026-03-01: 47 negativeWeek of 2026-04-01: 914 positiveWeek of 2026-04-01: 38 negativeWeek of 2026-05-01: 807 positiveWeek of 2026-05-01: 38 negativeWeek of 2026-06-01: 947 positiveWeek of 2026-06-01: 40 negativeWeek of 2026-07-01: 1,348 positiveWeek of 2026-07-01: 72 negativeWeek of 2026-08-01: 786 positiveWeek of 2026-08-01: 46 negativeWeek of 2026-09-01: 681 positiveWeek of 2026-09-01: 42 negativeWeek of 2026-10-01: 415 positiveWeek of 2026-10-01: 23 negative
Weekly review counts (Steam review histogram). Positive above the line, negative below.

Players online

1.4k3302026-09-14 19:00 — 818 players2026-09-16 04:00 — 467 players2026-09-17 11:00 — 463 players2026-09-18 19:00 — 922 players2026-09-20 02:00 — 741 players2026-09-21 10:00 — 418 players2026-09-22 17:00 — 833 players2026-09-24 01:00 — 622 players2026-09-25 08:00 — 403 players2026-09-26 16:00 — 984 players2026-09-27 23:00 — 780 players2026-09-29 07:00 — 330 players2026-09-30 14:00 — 583 players2026-10-01 22:00 — 747 players2026-10-03 05:00 — 785 players2026-10-04 14:00 — 1,277 players2026-10-05 21:00 — 1,123 players2026-10-07 05:00 — 737 players2026-10-08 12:00 — 799 players2026-10-09 20:00 — 1,355 players2026-10-11 03:00 — 900 players2026-10-12 11:00 — 598 players2026-10-13 18:00 — 1,100 players2026-10-14 10:00 — 568 players
Concurrent players, hourly average, last 30 days (census samples).
5.3k155Jul 2012Aug 2026Jul 2012 — avg 352 · peak 674Dec 2012 — avg 220 · peak 597May 2013 — avg 175 · peak 324Oct 2013 — avg 295 · peak 1,169Mar 2014 — avg 214 · peak 411Aug 2014 — avg 235 · peak 388Jan 2015 — avg 378 · peak 941Jun 2015 — avg 457 · peak 1,053Nov 2015 — avg 334 · peak 975Apr 2016 — avg 233 · peak 430Sep 2016 — avg 247 · peak 460Feb 2017 — avg 342 · peak 640Jul 2017 — avg 670 · peak 1,798Dec 2017 — avg 596 · peak 1,604May 2018 — avg 330 · peak 614Oct 2018 — avg 276 · peak 509Mar 2019 — avg 356 · peak 648Aug 2019 — avg 393 · peak 670Jan 2020 — avg 1,367 · peak 5,998Jun 2020 — avg 564 · peak 1,408Nov 2020 — avg 648 · peak 1,582Apr 2021 — avg 507 · peak 819Sep 2021 — avg 474 · peak 764Feb 2022 — avg 583 · peak 1,172Jul 2022 — avg 629 · peak 1,404Dec 2022 — avg 845 · peak 1,822May 2023 — avg 517 · peak 885Oct 2023 — avg 517 · peak 982Mar 2024 — avg 1,055 · peak 2,040Aug 2024 — avg 845 · peak 1,448Jan 2025 — avg 1,838 · peak 4,926Jun 2025 — avg 707 · peak 1,387Nov 2025 — avg 902 · peak 1,911Apr 2026 — avg 698 · peak 1,266Aug 2026 — avg 695 · peak 1,145
Monthly average players (source: steamcharts.com) — history via steamcharts.com; live census sampling since Aug 2026.

Chart history

PositiveNegative
1371372026-09-212026-10-132026-09-21: 137 new positive2026-09-21: 5 new negative2026-09-22: 15 new positive2026-09-22: 5 new negative2026-09-23: 18 new positive2026-09-24: 23 new positive2026-09-24: 1 new negative2026-09-25: 21 new positive2026-09-25: 2 new negative2026-09-26: 11 new positive2026-09-26: 2 new negative2026-09-28: 13 new positive2026-09-30: 15 new positive2026-09-30: 2 new negative2026-10-01: 13 new positive2026-10-01: 2 new negative2026-10-02: 26 new positive2026-10-02: 4 new negative2026-10-03: 43 new positive2026-10-03: 2 new negative2026-10-04: 65 new positive2026-10-04: 3 new negative2026-10-05: 60 new positive2026-10-05: 3 new negative2026-10-08: 41 new positive2026-10-08: 4 new negative2026-10-09: 33 new positive2026-10-09: 2 new negative2026-10-10: 49 new positive2026-10-10: 1 new negative2026-10-11: 46 new positive2026-10-11: 3 new negative2026-10-12: 26 new positive2026-10-12: 2 new negative2026-10-13: 26 new positive2026-10-13: 2 new negative
New Steam reviews per day (census review snapshots). Positive above the line, negative below.

Price history

$9.99$0.002015-01-012026-10-082015-01-01 — best price $4.992015-06-22 — best price $9.992015-07-21 — best price $2.492015-12-01 — best price $9.992016-02-05 — best price $2.492016-03-25 — best price $9.992016-06-23 — best price $1.992016-08-01 — best price $9.192016-11-29 — best price $9.992017-06-22 — best price $0.992017-11-28 — best price $9.992018-02-15 — best price $0.992018-07-05 — best price $9.992018-12-20 — best price $1.992019-02-12 — best price $9.992019-10-28 — best price $0.992019-12-03 — best price $9.992020-06-25 — best price $1.992020-11-02 — best price $9.992020-12-22 — best price $1.992021-07-08 — best price $9.992021-12-22 — best price $1.992022-02-03 — best price $9.992022-11-22 — best price $0.992023-01-05 — best price $9.992023-06-29 — best price $0.992023-09-19 — best price $9.992023-11-28 — best price $9.992024-03-14 — best price $0.992024-07-11 — best price $9.992024-11-27 — best price $1.992025-01-02 — best price $9.992025-06-26 — best price $1.992025-10-06 — best price $9.992025-12-18 — best price $1.992026-03-26 — best price $9.992026-06-25 — best price $1.992026-10-03 — best price $1.992026-10-06 — best price $1.992026-10-08 — best price $1.99
Lowest recorded price across tracked stores, per day (census snapshots).

Attention

1.6k9212026-05-31 — 1,182 pageviews2026-06-04 — 1,090 pageviews2026-06-08 — 1,206 pageviews2026-06-12 — 1,042 pageviews2026-06-16 — 1,100 pageviews2026-06-20 — 963 pageviews2026-06-24 — 1,058 pageviews2026-06-28 — 1,121 pageviews2026-07-02 — 1,161 pageviews2026-07-06 — 1,247 pageviews2026-07-10 — 1,068 pageviews2026-07-14 — 1,064 pageviews2026-07-18 — 988 pageviews2026-07-22 — 958 pageviews2026-07-26 — 1,052 pageviews2026-07-30 — 1,046 pageviews2026-08-03 — 921 pageviews2026-08-07 — 1,517 pageviews2026-08-11 — 1,084 pageviews2026-08-15 — 950 pageviews2026-08-19 — 1,048 pageviews2026-08-23 — 1,355 pageviews2026-08-27 — 1,159 pageviews2026-08-31 — 1,401 pageviews2026-09-04 — 1,133 pageviews2026-09-08 — 1,134 pageviews2026-09-12 — 1,035 pageviews2026-09-16 — 1,215 pageviews2026-09-20 — 1,117 pageviews2026-09-24 — 1,250 pageviews2026-09-28 — 1,120 pageviews2026-10-02 — 1,091 pageviews2026-10-06 — 1,110 pageviews2026-10-10 — 1,057 pageviews
Daily Wikipedia pageviews (attention proxy, census-recorded).

Twitch viewers

1.6k02026-09-30 18:34 — 610 viewers2026-10-01 03:34 — 26 viewers2026-10-01 12:34 — 72 viewers2026-10-01 21:34 — 158 viewers2026-10-02 06:34 — 19 viewers2026-10-02 15:34 — 76 viewers2026-10-03 00:34 — 32 viewers2026-10-03 09:34 — 3 viewers2026-10-03 18:34 — 787 viewers2026-10-04 03:34 — 96 viewers2026-10-04 12:34 — 61 viewers2026-10-04 21:34 — 708 viewers2026-10-05 06:34 — 43 viewers2026-10-05 15:34 — 1,560 viewers2026-10-06 00:34 — 53 viewers2026-10-06 09:34 — 69 viewers2026-10-06 18:34 — 593 viewers2026-10-07 03:34 — 40 viewers2026-10-07 12:34 — 1 viewers2026-10-07 21:34 — 503 viewers2026-10-08 06:34 — 4 viewers2026-10-08 15:34 — 134 viewers2026-10-09 00:34 — 35 viewers2026-10-09 09:34 — 100 viewers2026-10-09 18:34 — 298 viewers2026-10-10 03:34 — 42 viewers2026-10-10 12:34 — 71 viewers2026-10-10 21:34 — 594 viewers2026-10-11 06:34 — 33 viewers2026-10-11 15:34 — 48 viewers2026-10-12 00:34 — 12 viewers2026-10-12 09:34 — 6 viewers2026-10-12 18:34 — 524 viewers2026-10-13 03:34 — 66 viewers2026-10-13 12:34 — 1,069 viewers2026-10-13 21:34 — 457 viewers2026-10-14 06:34 — 9 viewers2026-10-14 15:34 — 152 viewers2026-10-14 17:34 — 128 viewers
Hourly Twitch viewers (census snapshots).

Details

WindowsmacOSLinuxFull controller supportSingle-playerMulti-playerPvPOnline PvPFull controller supportColor AlternativesCustom Volume ControlsAdjustable DifficultyKeyboard Only OptionPlayable without Timed Input1 DLC

7 supported languages: English, French, German, Italian, Spanish - Spain, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese

Post-launch support: 1 DLC released, first 2014-09-24 (Steam store data)

Where its players are

Share of Steam reviews by language (top languages measured) — a proxy for where the player base lives.

Player tags

FPSGoreRetro1990'sActionAliensSci-fiClassicShooterStory Rich

Census log

Computed from census-recorded observations only — dates are observation dates.

Recent updates

Players also track

Counter-StrikeHalf-Life 2PortalCall of Duty® (2003)Call of Duty® 2Wolfenstein: The New Order

Similarity via IGDB.

Official site ↗Wikipedia ↗