NoFrag: People don't care about Half-Life anymore

[UnluckyKate]

translated from french, thought it was sadly interesting :

Half-Life N'intéresse Plus Les Joueurs - NoFrag

Annoncé le 19 novembre dernier, Half-Life: Alyx sortira le 23 mars prochain, 13 ans après Half-Life 2: Episode 2. Pourtant, j'ai bien l'impression que les

nofrag.com

release of HL2 ep 2 compared to announcement of HL Alyx, in google search for " Half Life "

Compared to other FPS franchises :

To promote the franchise and let players catch up on the history of HL, Valve made all the HL games free 2 play for a few months, but it failed to capture much traction with a very low amount of players returning to the games :

Its great to see Valve making a AAA game again, going back to HL universe and taking a bold stance on VR making a real experience tailored for the hardware but even if its the best game in the world, the game won't sold much with such a steep hardware price requierement and its impact might but extremely limited...

As for the future of HL, lets hope their recent announcement about going back to the franchise with Alyx is their acknowlegment of this game being way to hard to acess for the mass market.

 

[Girder_Shade]

Too little too late maybe?
If this released 10 years ago it would have been top gaming news.

 

[spineduke]

Let's wait and see before calling doom and gloom eh?

 

[Rygar 8Bit]

With Steam generating them infinite money, they can afford to make the games they want to make, and explore new methods of gameplay. It doesn't need to sell well.

 

[WrenchNinja]

The Orange Box was a long ass time ago

 

[show me your skeleton]

i feel its biggest sales hurdle is the need for some kind of VR hardware but i'm sure it'll do well regardless

 

[Deleted member 10726]

Episode 2 released in 2007. Given Valve has barely done anything with Half-Life since, it makes sense that interest isn't going to be super high as the only thing that was keeping it even somewhat relevant was the Half-Life 3 confirmed meme.

 

[CaptainKashup]

It being VR only doesn't help. Every fan I know won't be getting the game because of that, sadly.

 

[UnluckyKate]

Too little too late maybe?
If this released 10 years ago it would have been top gaming news.

Click to shrink...

yes, too little too late.

On one hand, only valve could have ever made a AAA VR game knowing it would be a financial dump. But we have to respect their decisions, to make the best VR game they could, not caring about loosing money on it.

But on the other, I look at Doom 2016 and I can't imagine a better success story for bringing back from the dead and 25 years long franchise back to revelance again... And that wasn't locked behing a monster PC + 1000$ VR set

 

[Wamb0wneD]

I would be super interested in Alyx if it wasnt tied to a 1000€ machine. Like, I get they are trying the same thing they successfully did with Steam and CS/Half Life, but I doubt its going to work. Installing a launcher isnt as large of a barrier as 1000 freaking €.

 

[Gabbo]

translated from french, thought it was sadly interesting :

Half-Life N'intéresse Plus Les Joueurs - NoFrag

Annoncé le 19 novembre dernier, Half-Life: Alyx sortira le 23 mars prochain, 13 ans après Half-Life 2: Episode 2. Pourtant, j'ai bien l'impression que les

nofrag.com

release of HL2 ep 2 compared to announcement of HL Alyx, in google search for " Half Life "

Compared to other FPS franchises :

To promote the franchise and let players catch up on the history of HL, Valve made all the HL games free 2 play for a few months, but it failed to capture much traction with a very low amount of players returning to the games :

Its great to see Valve making a AAA game again, going back to HL universe and taking a bold stance on VR making a real experience tailored for the hardware but even if its the best game in the world, the game won't sold much with such a steep hardware price requierement and its impact might but extremely limited...

As for the future of HL, lets hope their recent announcement about going back to the franchise with Alyx is their acknowlegment of this game being way to hard to acess for the mass market.

Click to shrink...

I mean, they brought this on themselves by going mostly radio silent about the series for over a decade. Then to announce a VR-only next entry will further limit their audience

 

[Semfry]

I recall peeks at Valve's response that suggested Half-Life: Alyx was doing better than they expected? Not to mention the "coincidental" rise in VR attention/sales since it was announced.

 

[Mirage]

I recall peeks at Valve's response that suggested Half-Life: Alyx was doing better than they expected? Not to mention the "coincidental" rise in VR attention/sales since it was announced.

Click to shrink...

I'm pretty sure that latter part is more what they were going for than this being a huge seller .

 

[Lulu]

Damn gaben is finished

 

[Chaos2Frozen]

About time.

 

[Cenauru]

Half Life is a really old franchise. I doubt Alyx will do poorly just because people don't talk about it when HL has been discussed to death now.

 

[Rygar 8Bit]

I would be super interested in Alyx if it wasnt tied to a 1000€ machine. Like, I get they are trying the same thing they successfully did with Steam and CS/Half Life, but I doubt its going to work. Installing a launcher isnt as large of a barrier as 1000 freaking €.

Click to shrink...

It's not. You can play it on a $200 headset.

 

[DOBERMAN INC]

Perhaps wait for the game to release first, how many fans of Half-Life are Googling it these days?

Maybe getting new fans will be a problem yes but let's wait and see how many old fans are still interested.

 

[pswii60]

The Orange Box feels like yesterday to me, but I'm 38 now and actually when I really look back to my 26 year old self when it released, and how much my life has changed... well it sure was a long-ass time ago in reality.

Never mind an 18 year old who was just 5 years old when Orange Box released and was nothing more than an unfertilised egg in their mother when Half-Life launched.

In reality though, all this analysis is fairly pointless. Because it might as well be a new IP for the younger generation - and as with a new IP - if it's a great game and well-marketed, it'll get the necessary interest regardless of its history.

 

[reminiscingLemon]

I only know 2 people who are getting ALYX, ones a contractor in work (who makes a boatload of money) & the other is my old room mate, hes the only friend I have with a well paid job (~£80k a year).

Sucks, Half-Life was massive amongst me and my friends, hell it's the reason we all got steam back in the day. Guess we're too working class to even get near this game now though as literally only 1 of us can even afford to run it.

 

[Lobster Roll]

Half-Life hasn't had a major release in a decade, and after all the waiting, Alyx is a VR title. It's obviously going to do well considering the VR install base, but outside of enthusiast forums this game is going to come & go and miss the radar of an overwhelming majority of gamers.

 

[Wamb0wneD]

It's not. You can play it on a $200 headset.

Click to shrink...

Can I without throwing up though. And even then, its still 200 bucks extra. It certainly will prompt some people to jump on the VR train, but how many will be something we will have to see

 

[the7egend]

Wait till launch, it'll spike up pretty good around that time. A lot of the lack of interest is because it's on VR, and that's a very niche platform that a lot of people just aren't going to dive into because A) they don't have the system for it and B) that's like buying a $500-$1000 game. If it was a standard Half-Life release I'd say more hype would be surrounding it.

I think Alyx is going to be pretty good and it'll be the defining game that shows what VR can really do, but that intitial investment and then just shelving it till the next big VR game hits is going to be hard to stomach for most.

 

[kami_sama]

Half-Life hasn't had a major release in a decade, and after all the waiting, Alyx is a VR title. It's obviously going to do well considering the VR install base, but outside of enthusiast forums this game is going to come & go and miss the radar of an overwhelming majority of gamers.

Click to shrink...

Yeah, that's what it's going to happen most likely.
Still, I want it to do well, more Half Life is always great.

 

[bane833]

People certainly don´t care about VR.

 

[5olid_5nake]

It would be my most expected title of the year if it wasn't on VR.

This way I'm totally indifferent, I'm probably just going to watch it on youtube when it comes out.

 

[Linus815]

Wait till launch, it'll spike up pretty good around that time. A lot of the lack of interest is because it's on VR, and that's a very niche platform that a lot of people just aren't going to dive into because A) they don't have the system for it and B) that's like buying a $500-$1000 game. If it was a standard Half-Life release I'd say more hype would be surrounding it.

I think Alyx is going to be pretty good and it'll be the defining game that shows what VR can really do, but that intitial investment and then just shelving it till the next big VR game hits is going to be hard to stomach for most.

Click to shrink...

People would first have to look at the trailer/article whatever of Alyx to find out its VR.

 

[Mafro]

It was really weird seeing a new Half-Life game announced and me feeling absolutely nothing.

 

[Navidson REC]

It's not. You can play it on a $200 headset.

Click to shrink...

Without a gaming PC?

 

[thomasmahler]

I care.

 

[Duxxy3]

I'm more interested in checking out Black Mesa than I am Alyx. And even then I'm in no rush.

Valve sat on this franchise for WAY too long.

 

[It’s Time To Go]

It has been 13 years.

 

[Radium217]

It's true. The game may sell decently and stuff, actually be good. But they simply waited too long to do anything cool with this franchise. It's as though they had no confidence or interest in it and I think that in turn doesn't exactly inspire confidence.

If it seems like the creators/publishers don't even want to do anything with the IP why should a gamer be invested in said IP.

There are also just so many great games out there now, in that genre, that it's going to be a harder sell for them than it may have been if they kept the brand somewhat relevant. I have a feeling it's not going to do as well or be as great as people hope.

 

[Dictator]

Without a gaming PC?

Click to shrink...

With a very mid range gaming PC, according to their spec list.

 

[Oneself]

I care about HL but not about VR.

 

[Y2Kev]

Wow halo is dad

 

[Senator Rains]

The last of their kind, the "Half-life 3 confirmed" memes, have perished in 2009.

No but seriously, it doesn't surprise me. Valve seem to not care about the series. The game's reveal fell to deaf ears as far as my gaming circle goes, and they haven't re-released/remastered the first games to bring in new fans.

 

[Weebos]

Everbody who ever liked it is now dead, that's how long it has been.

 

[Soulflarz]

I mean yeah. Im 22 and when i played them in high school half life was already at the point of my friends who are 8yr older going "you have to try it!" And none of my friends have played it. At best its a "haha valve cant count to 3!" joke among my age group. I didnt like them because all the core and fun concepts had been stolen by better more enjoyable games by then.

 

[Deleted member 15395]

It's just been too long. There's an entire generation of gamers that didn't grow up with it and it being VR only is not doing it any favors in that department. Not being HL3 is also another big factor imo.

 

[Kalik]

of course people care about Half Life...the problem with Alyx is that it's a VR exclusive which has excluded most people from playing...if a new HL game was released for PC/consoles then interest would be at an all time high- probably right up there with Cyberpunk

people don't care about VR should be the real title of this thread...I'm sure the recent release of Black Mesa is trending very high

 

[Dakkon]

Just going to C&P a post I made about this subject in another thread:

Google search is the antithesis of good data when it comes to determining the player count / popularity of something. Here's why:

1) If a ton of people are playing or using something they have less of a reason to google it, not more.

2) If a ton of people are playing or using something, that means there's less and less people in the target demo to google it in the first place.

3) If something is really popular, people probably don't need to google it in general. (it only checks exact search terms, people don't need to google fortnite specifically)

4) Google Trends only shows you search popularity, e.g. it's popularity in comparison to other searches at the time. It is not polling data (data you would use for actual popularity/population) and should not be used as such, their own support FAQ says as much.

5) Here's a really easy counter-example using Steam:

Steam's Google Trends from 2004 to present.

Steam's actual concurrent player base from 2004 to present.

They are, pretty obviously, completely unrelated to one another. Look at February 2008 in particular: an extremely large concurrent player spike of 300% and yet the Google Trend is lower than the previous month.

Click to shrink...

 

[Gay Bowser]

I mean, that's sort of what happens when you don't release a game in the series for thirteen years, and then announce a VR spinoff instead of the game that your audience wanted so much, it became a meme known to people who never even played Half-Life.

 

[PixelatedDonut]

Most people never cared about half life. It's something I only ever see old people bring up.

 

[Rygar 8Bit]

I only know 2 people who are getting ALYX, ones a contractor in work (who makes a boatload of money) & the other is my old room mate, hes the only friend I have with a well paid job (~£80k a year).

Sucks, Half-Life was massive amongst me and my friends, hell it's the reason we all got steam back in the day. Guess we're too working class to even get near this game now though as literally only 1 of us can even afford to run it.

Click to shrink...

When I bought my Vive in 2016 I was working at a grocery store making 35k a year.

Without a gaming PC?

Click to shrink...

You would have needed that PC to play it in the first place?

 

[Deleted member 18021]

Half Life 2 was a *powerful* long time ago, and the franchise has been dormant for so long that anyone who wasn't there back in 2004 doesn't really have any attachment to Half Life other than memes.

VR is also a limiting factor, of course.

 

[Jroc]

Sort of kills the momentum when the big follow-up to a 13 year old cliffhanger is a VR-exclusive prequel.

I don't know if it's the VR effect, or if I'm just disappointed about it not being a sequel, but I'm shocked at how unexcited I am for my favourite franchise to be coming back. I also strongly dislike the new art style so maybe that's having an impact.

 

[Navidson REC]

With a very mid range gaming PC, according to their spec list.

Click to shrink...

No idea how much a mid-range PC costs these days, but I assume taken together it would still cost me 600€+ to experience this game (and other VR games, granted). With a new console generation on the horizon, I just down have this money to spare. Which is a huge bummer, as I love all the Half-Life games.

Oh well, I'll just play it in five years or so when everything is more affordable. It's not like playing Half-Life 1 in 2012 or whenever that was ruined my enjoyment.

 

[eonden]

This is a stupid thing that can easily be explained by "HL was never huge" (to the level of other big FPS) to being with. You can easily show it on the graph that they provide that compares it with other shooters:

 

[Deleted member 862]

That's what happens when you don't finish a story

if Episode 3 was released now I don't think I'd even bother playing it