Half-Life 2 is already running on Nintendo Switch, thanks to Portal

polygon.com:

Just one day after the Portal Companion Collection was released on Nintendo Switch, modders have already worked out how to play Half-Life 2 on the system. The first of these videos seems to have come from Twitter user OatmealDome, who posted a clip of part of Half-Life 2 running on the system on Tuesday.

According to OatmealDome, the game is running on top of the Switch’s version of Portal 1. And while the game is playable, it’s far from perfect. It only runs a few levels, crashes from time to time, and many sections aren’t completable at all. But even with these problems, it’s still a pretty impressive feat to get the game ported over to the Switch.

Later in their Twitter thread, OatmealDome goes on to explain a bit about how this whole thing works, including the fact that the original Portal is basically just a glorified Half-Life 2 mod already. Much of the player code is the same, for instance.

OatmealDome is still improving their mod, and it’s entirely possible that Valve one day puts an official version of Half-Life 2 on Switch. However, at the moment, your best bet for a portable version of Half-Life 2 is still the Steam Deck.