Amidst all the lockdowns, social distancing, and fears over the Coronovirus, it seems bizarre that we're about to be hit with yet another unexpected event: a new Half Life game. But that's exactly what's happening. Half-Life: Alyx will launch around the world as one of the first AAA VR games on March 23. We now have the official launch times, and if you want to be ready to play right as the game goes live in your timezone, then you'll want to pre-load it this Friday.
Half-Life: Alyx takes place between Half Life and Half Life 2 and is a virtual reality exclusive game. That is, you'll need a VR headset to make the most of its experience, and preferably one of the new higher-end headsets with finger tracking too. Whatever your hardware setup, however, if you want to preload the game you can do so starting this coming Friday.
The game itself will go live on March 23 (March 24 @ 4AM in Australia) with British gamers able to dive into the long-abandoned world of Half Life at 5PM. East coast gamers will be able to start playing at 1PM, while those on the West Coast will be able to access the game at 10AM.
Since the game will launch on a Monday, you may want to book the day off if you fancy playing it right through from the start.
For the most immersive Half-Life: Alyx experience, Valve recommends its Index VR headset. You can buy it here.