Current events

Looking for release news? This page is rarely updated when a new mod is released. Try visiting ModDB to stay up to date in this regard.

Notice: This page is a historical artifact that hasn't been updated in over a decade. It is only being kept as an interesting curiosity.

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Blackmesa Released!

September 14, 2012: The Blackmesa Mod is finally released!

Portal 2 Released

April 19, 2011: Portal 2, the follow-up to Portal was Released by Valve.

Left 4 Dead 2 Released

November 17, 2009: Left 4 Dead 2, the follow-up to Left 4 Dead by Valve was released!

Хорошая Графика Советую

Softimage Mod Tool 7.5

April 19, 2009: An update to the Softimage Mod Tool (formerly XSI Mod Tool) has been released. Download it from Softimage or ModDB.

XSI Mod Tool 6.01

January 08, 2009: An unannounced update to the XSI Mod Tool has been released. Download it from Softimage or ModDB.

Neotokyo returns!

November 20, 2008: Neotokyo is almost complete. Catch up with what Studio Radi-8 have been doing all this time by looking through their newly-released media, and by listening to their chat with ModDB.

Half-Life Turns 10

November 19, 2008: Half-Life, Valve's first commercial release and critically acclaimed winner of over 50 Game of the Year awards, celebrates it's 10th anniversary today.

Left 4 Dead Released

November 18, 2008: Left 4 Dead, the cooperative survival horror, has been released on Steam!

Mods get Steamworks

August 11, 2008: Five mods have been given special access to the Steamworks SDK, and will be releasing future versions over Steam. More details here!

Added tools: Particle Editor etc. Released

June 10, 2008: Much of the new tools from the Orange Box have been released today, you can grab them by restarting steam. To use the tools add the -tools command as a launch option to any Orange Box engine game/mod or the Orange Box Source SDK Base.

If you have any problems, visit the OB Editor Known Issues page.

Reissues (HL1 mod) released!

May 26, 2008: Reissues, a single player Half-Life 1 mod created by various designers in the community, has now been released! Enjoy.

SourceU educational licensing opens

March 26, 2008: SourceU is a licensing program for schools (presumably including colleges and universities):

This educational licensing program bundles Valve's game development technologies and invaluable learning resources. By using Source engine technology in the classroom, educational institutions around the world can teach a variety of creative and technical disciplines, from 3D modeling and animation to game design.

The educational program is available to public or private schools starting with the 2008-2009 school year.

To find out how you can join the program, email us at [email protected].

DIPRIP demo released

March 7, 2008: Vehicular combat mod D.I.P.R.I.P. has been released! The 1.0 demo features three vehicles, three maps, and one game mode.

Valve's GDC presentations available

February 29, 2008: Four of the presentations given by Valve at the Game Developers Conference are now available from their publications page. They are:

• Kim Swift and Erik Wolpaw, Integrating Narrative and Design: A Portal Post-Mortem
• Jason Mitchell, Stylization With a Purpose: The Illustrative World of Team Fortress 2
• Elan Ruskin, How To Go From PC to Cross Platform Development Without Killing Your Studio
• Alex Vlachos, Post Processing in The Orange Box

Source SDK Base - Orange Box available

February 23, 2008: The Source 2007 version of SDK Base from which Source mods can run for cross-game compatibility is available now. To use it, assuming your code has been updated of course, simply change your mod's AppID to 218.

SDK Base Orange is only a 10MB download on top of the old SDK Base. Unfortunately it doesn't yet provide access to Episode Two content, but that's likely to change soon.

Source website updated

February 23, 2008: There's a stylish new Source website: source.valvesoftware.com. Thank god they updated those screenshots!

Valve Unveils Steamworks

January 29, 2008: Valve has released Steamworks, a complete suite of publishing and development tools ranging from copy protection to social networking services to server browsing. Steamworks is available free of charge, and will allow developers complete control over many aspects of production and post-production of their games.

Developers and publishers are spending more and more time and money cobbling together all the tools and backend systems needed to build and launch a successful title in today's market (...) Steamworks puts all those tools and systems together in one free package, liberating publishers and developers to concentrate on the game instead of the plumbing. — Gabe Newell.

• Read the press release for more information: Valve Unveils Steamworks