Free Half-Life 2 Giveaway Puts the Game in Steam's Top Trending Titles

The iconic Half-Life 2 celebrated its 20th anniversary with a slew of new content and a free giveaway on Steam. This led to the shooter achieving an online player count that many AAA games can only dream of.

According to SteamDB, Half-Life 2's player base surpassed 50,000 concurrent players over the weekend. On November 16, the peak number of players reached 52,000, and on November 17, it climbed to a record-breaking 64,000. At the time of writing, Half-Life 2 still remains among the top trending games on the platform.

The previous record was set in 2021 when the game gathered 16,000 players. This was driven by the community event Breaking Bad Bar, where participants aimed to bring more attention to their beloved game.

The free Half-Life 2 giveaway runs until November 18. The latest update has added the first two episodes and unique developer commentary to the shooter.

You can read our article about one of Valve's best games here.