When Valve Software announced that they were switching the name of their Aftermath expansion pack for Half-Life 2 to 'Episode 1', it signalled a shift in the firm's strategy from stand-alone expansions in the traditional mould to episodic content with some form of continuity between episodes. The move, no doubt inspired by the success of the Steam content delivery system, to a large extent, enables the developer to churn-out updates more rapidly, free from the complexities of traditional publishing methods.

We today learn that Valve are already deeply involved in the plotting of the series' future, too, the company announcing that Half-Life 2: Episode 2 is also in development, suggesting a shorter gap between episodes 1 and 2, than between episode 1 and the original title. Episode 1 is currently scheduled for release on April 24th. The omission came from designer Robin Walker, who told CVG that the second instalment had in fact been in development for some time, despite the apparent 'sluggishness' of the first update.

The episodes will be delivered via Steam, the first costing 19.99 USD, whilst EA will publish boxed-copies of the pack for about the same price at the same time. More soon.

By Luke Guttridge

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