Valve Bringing PC Orange Box Standalone Titles To Retail

Valve has announced it will launch stand-alone PC retail versions of Team Fortress 2, Portal and the Half Life 2: Episode Pack, initially released together as part of The Orange Box compilation, on April 9th in North America and April 11th worldwide. Portal is expected to retail for $19.99, and according to Valve, over 30 publications worldwide have named it Game of the Year for 2007 (including Gamasutra). The retail PC version of Team Fortress 2 will cost $29.99, and will include the recently-released Badlands map along with the ability to receive further updates, like the upcoming Goldrush mode and map, via Steam. The Half-Life 2: Episode Pack, which includes both Half Life: Episode One and Half Life: Episode Two along with Half Life 2: Deathmatch for online play, is expected to retail for $29.99. Customers who already own one of the titles in the Episode Pack will be able to "gift" the extra game via Steam to a friend. Valve VP of marketing Doug Lombardi commented, "Given the unique nature and length of the games inside The Orange Box, the compilation approach was the right vehicle for the debut of these titles at retail. With the flexibility of having different pricing and packaging options via Steam, we were able to test the market viability of the individual products. The results show an overwhelming demand for these stand-alone offerings as well as The Orange Box. This gives us tremendous confidence as we bring gamers more ways to get these titles at retail."