50 high-resolution pieces of concept art for canceled Half-Life games alongside material for Counter-Strike, Left 4 Dead, and more have been released online. The Valve artwork circulated after a collector with knowledge of canceled Half-Life projects had the opportunity to scan and upload their entire repository.
Earlier this month, YouTube channel DidYouKnowGaming took a dive into both the known and unknown history of every canceled Half-Life game, including Half-Life 3, an Alyx and Dog VR game, the sci-fi game Stars of Blood, and much more.
DYKG has now released high-resolution scans of Half-Life series concept art, which was obtained by Valve collector David McGreavy over a number of years. McGreavy hadn’t shared all the art up until this point due to the cost of high-quality scans.
There are a whopping 50 high-resolution art scans from Valve games, with Left 4 Dead and Dota Underlords getting a look in as well. You can see some of the art and hear from McGreavy about each project in DYKG’s video below:
On the Alyx and Dog VR game, which likely became Half-Life Alyx in some form, McGreavy tells DYKG, “There was an independent Alyx and Dog VR experience that was being toyed with. My understanding was that it was going to be a VR experience with Alyx and Dog, going into the world and exploring. So kind of like Half-Life Alyx, but less City 17, less urban environments, and more out into the [world].”
McGreavy also talked about Stars of Blood, a canceled Valve space pirate game that would have apparently been set within the Half-Life universe. “It was supposed to be space-pirate themed. Exploring multiple worlds, potentially. My understanding was it was still going to be a first-person shooter, but more of an exploratory thing.”
DidYouKnowGaming has shared McGreavy’s scans on its Twitter account, some of which are entirely new.
If all this talk of canceled Half-Life games has you in the mood for classic gaming experiences, we’ve broken down the very best old games on PC and some essential single-player games too.
