The inevitable Half-Life 2 RTX remix is being made without Valve

pcgamer.com:

You can't tell me that as soon as Portal got the full path tracing experience you weren't sitting there jonesing for them to do the same thing with Half-Life 2. We all want it, and Nvidia has been working with, what it's calling four of the HL2 mod community's «top mod teams,» to make it happen. It's called, obviously Half-Life 2: RTX.

But while Valve is aware of this Nvidia-backed project, the company behind one of the greatest PC games ever made has no formal involvement. Though, to be fair, that might actually mean it gets a release this side of the next ice age, such is the laggardly power of 'Valve Time'.

It must be said, however, that development has only just kicked off, with the current four mod teams—now going by the sobriquet, Orbifold Studios—actively looking for extra modding help to get the rather sizable task finished.

As a full RTX Remix project, you're getting the full Half-Life 2 game effectively remastered. You're getting new, high-res assets, fully ray traced lighting, and RTX IO support. That ought to bring the game right up to 2023 standards, and honestly, the project sizzle reel makes it look pretty incredible.

Nvidia has informed us that the mod teams which have joined forces to create Orbifold Studios have come from these projects:

Nvidia also approached Igor Zdrowowicz, who was working on his own RTX Remix of Half-Life 2 using the Portal with RTX files. He's already shared some of his initial work via Twitter, but has now joined up with Orbifold Studios to help build this fully realised remaster of the further adventures of theoretical physicist, G Dawg Freeman. The original subtitle for Half-Life 2, in case anyone's wondering.

It's also not the first time the community has tried to get a full