Valve has revealed new details on Half-Life: Alyx ahead of its March 2020 release. During a Reddit AMA, the developer revealed that barring a few tweaks, the game as good as finished.
“With the exception of some tweaks to the absolute final scene, the game is done,” said the team attending the AMA, which included a mix of programmers, designers, animators, sound designers, and artists. “Lots of us at Valve, as well as playtesters, have played through the entire game multiple times. Right now we’re primarily polishing and fixing bugs, which is where we’d hope to be at this point in the development cycle. We’re confident we’ll hit our intended release.”
In a bit of a bummer for fans of the past games, composer Kelly Bailey will not be returning for Half-Life: Alyx. Instead, Mike Morasky, who composed Valve’s more recent games like Portal 2, will be composing the music. Morasky, however, has worked closely with Bailey throughout the process. Valve has similarly consulted with previous Half-Life writer Marc Laidlaw with the story of Half-Life: Alyx.
Leading up to launch, Valve is planning on releasing more gameplay footage for the game, with the intention to “showcase not just gameplay elements, but also VR-specific elements like different movement options.”
If you haven’t already, you can pick up Half-Life: Alyx on Steam for a 10% discount ahead of the game’s actual release.