Half-Life 2 RTX Remaster Looks Stunning In 20th Anniversary Tribute

As Half-Life 2 nears its 20th anniversary, NVIDIA has released a video showing the progress being made on Half-Life 2 RTX by Orbifold Studios, a collection of modding groups who’ve come together for this project. The aim is to bring a breath of fresh air into this classic title; to create something old fans can enjoy and provide an experience newer gamers might expect in a modern game.

Orbifold Studios is going a step further than other NVIDIA Remix efforts that just update the lighting system. The team is really digging into every aspect of the game, refreshing character models, textures, light sources and of course, adding path tracing. This is more along the lines of a full-blown remaster, and it shows because Half-Life 2 RTX looks absolutely gorgeous.

It's truly a labor of love, with the project having over 100 unique contributors, many of whom are professional game developers who lend their efforts while off the clock. “I hope that when fans come and play Half-Life 2 RTX, that we’ve recreated the ideal memory of Half-Life 2 on cutting edge technology,” said one of the project leads, Christopher Workman.

Unfortunately, it seems like it might be some time before this project is completed. The video doesn’t mention any kind of release date, which is to be expected with this being a community-driven project and the scope of the work being done. However, it does now have an official Steam page listing, meaning anyone interested can Wishlist the game to receive updates about it.

Hopefully this project serves as inspiration for other classic games that could use a new coat of paint, and that established game studios see using NVIDIA Remix as a viable route for revisiting back catalog titles.