Half-Life 2 slips - official

Half-Life 2 has been slipped to the "holiday season", Valve officially confirmed last night. Rumours had been emanating from various retailers and publisher Vivendi for some months, but Valve - as late as last week - still insisted the release date would not move.

Valve marketing director Doug Lombardi issued the following statement:

"The previously announced September 30th release date for Half-Life 2 is being pushed back. We are currently targeting a holiday release, but do not have a specific 'in-store' date to share at this time. We will release that information as soon as we have confirmed a new date."

Quite why Valve waited until the week before the game's original release date to tell us this is open to question, but it's disappointing to say the least.

Many believed that Valve would release the game via Steam first (perhaps episodically, level by level) and then release the 'box set' later in the year. There's still a chance the developer will at least release a playable demo via Steam before the release, but nothing has been confirmed to date.

The slip gives the Half Life 2/ATI launch event on Alcatraz next Tuesday even greater significance as the world holds its breath for the next batch of information on one of the most anticipated games ever.