Half-Life 2: Aftermath Dated

The upcoming expansion pack for Valve's popular shooter, Half-Life 2, finally receives its release date. Today Doug Lombardi of Valve Software confirmed that they are currently shooting for an April 24, 2006 release. The previous release date for this expansion was a launch window of November 2005. Apparently they missed that window by a longshot. Little is known about this upcoming expansion, but it should focus more on the main characters of Half-Life 2 that had short appearances. In other words, characters like Alex and Barney Calhoun will have a much more significant role in the game rather then just appearing by your side at certain spots. The storyline and further details are currently unknown. Half-Life 2: Aftermath will retail for $19.99 on Valve's Steam network. This doesn't mean that it will be exclusive to Steam, however, as Electronic Arts is serving as Valve's new publisher and will distribute a retail version known as Half-Life 2 Platinum. This new Platinum pack will include Half-Life 2, Half-Life 2 deathmatch, Half-Life 2: Aftermath, Counter-Strike: Source, and Day of Defeat: Source. The pricing of this new pack is not yet available.