Half-Life 2 Expansion Becomes Episodic Content

A report by consumer game website GameSpot indicates that Half-Life developer Valve Software has renamed its forthcoming PC expansion pack Half-Life 2: Aftermath to Half-Life 2: Episode One. The name change is apparently a result of plans to make an episodic continuation of the award-winning FPS downloadable via the company's Steam digital 'content distribution system', rather than a more traditional, more retail-friendly one-off expansion that was previously planned. Speaking to GameSpot, Valve marketing director Doug Lombardi also indicated that Episode One would be the first in a regular line of core single-player expansion content for Half-Life 2, following use of Half-Life 2's Source engine for projects including Counter-Strike: Source and Day Of Defeat: Source. The new Valve-developed episodic series follows the announcement of Valve's partnership with developer Ritual Entertainment to produce episodic, digitally delivered parts for a sequel to Ritual’s 1998 first person shoot ‘em-up SiN, showing the company's drive to cut out both publishers and retail stores in delivering PC product to its fans.