Steam to Sell Black Mesa

The fan-made Half-Life remake Black Mesa will be coming to Steam with a price tag in the near future.

An statement released on the Black Mesa website confirms that the rebuilt shooter could soon be available on Steam for "a relatively low price". The announcement coincides with the 15-year anniversary of Half-Life, which was originally released on November 19, 1998. Black Mesa was originally to be a free title.

"We never developed Black Mesa with money in mind," read a statement from the game's developer.

"Our team is made up of average, hard-working people, and no one joined the team to make money. For us, Black Mesa is purely a labour of love. We believe this philosophy has significantly contributed to the overall quality and feel of the game.

"Our decision to sell Black Mesa rests on two key points. One is we believe we can make the game even better by having full access to the Source engine. This lets us tackle and fix limitations instead of working around them. The second is because, frankly, our team could really use the financial help.

"Soon you'll see Black Mesa available on Steam for a relatively low price. But we aren't dropping all support for the free version. In fact shortly after the Steam release there will be a completely new free version of the game. We also plan to open source our maps and some game assets to the modding community!

"Purchasing the Steam version of Black Mesa is more about supporting the team and our efforts than anything else. However, the Steam version will include features that the free version simply can not have. We will be paying careful attention to feedback, and you'll have a very real say in how the final game turns out."

Black Mesa was among the first ten games to be selected for publishing on Steam after garnering enough votes on Valve's Steam Greenlight system.