Half-Life 2 RTX demo will be available on Steam next week

First announced in 2023, NVIDIA is finally ready to unveil a playable demo of Half-Life 2 RTX. If you have the original game on Steam, you’ll be able to download the demo on March 18. NVIDIA’s RTX Remix version of the release includes the company’s current technologies, such as multi-frame generation with DLSS 4 support and neural shaders. NVIDIA says the full release will be available at a later date.

NVIDIA says the full release will be available at a later date.

Ahead of the demo release, NVIDIA is also introducing RTX Remix, the modding toolkit that Orbifold used to create the HL2 remastering. The kit is available for download today and offers support for many of the company’s current technologies, including multi-frame generation using DLSS 4. NVIDIA claims that the RTX Remix interface is «easy to learn» allowing modders to easily add fully traced lighting and enhanced textures to older games. For more advanced users, RTX Remix opens up the possibility of reconstructing every resource in the game.

For more advanced users, the RTX Remix interface is easy to use.

In addition, you’ll have the chance to see Half-Life 2 in a new light for several reasons. One is to honor the memory of Victor Antonov, Half-Life 2’s outstanding art director, who sadly passed away in February at the age of 52. Every video game is the result of a collaboration, but it was Antonov who played a key role in creating the game’s unique visual style, designing much of City 17 and Combine’s technology.