Check out the Half-Life Steam trading cards that never were

I’ve paid little to no attention to my Steam Trading Card collection over the past few years. Admittedly, I did when the system first launched back in 2013, but only for one game really. You all know what it is, surely?

I am of course talking about Dota 2. Having only received a handful of cards from playing the MOBA, I traded what I could (cards earned from other titles) for whatever was outstanding. I even went so far as to buy a few more just so I could level up my Steam user level, over and over again. Hey, I have a Puck chat emoticon, and no regrets!

Apart from checking them out now and then to appreciate their artwork, I’ve done absolutely nothing else with the rest of my collection. It’s a waste really, considering it’s filled with all manner of cards from titles like Alan Wake, Borderlands, Evolve, Left 4 Dead 2, Ori and the Blind Forest, Risk of Rain, Tomb Raider, Warframe, and many, many more that I’ll probably never put to good use.

Anyway, the reason I bring this all up in the first place is because from my short list alone, it really seems like every single game, regardless of genre or developer, has collectible cards and accompanying rewards available on Steam, right? Want to know something interesting? Valve’s very own Half-Life has none (via PC Gamer).

Well, it does actually. All those goodies were just never released (via ValveTime):

In July of 2013, Valve hired Seattle-based artist David Thany to create trading cards, emoticons, and badges for big title games such as Half-Life and Hotline Miami to be released with that year’s Steam Summer Sale. However, to date, the Half-Life artwork to remains unused.

Contacting Thany to learn the story behind these pictures, he believes the reason why they weren’t used was because his artwork brought a more updated look to the first game, making them feel like they belong to Half-Life 2 instead. The art for the original game was said to be a bit more crude in comparison to its sequel.

Rumour has it that Valve will release the above cards and rewards simultaneously with Half-Life 3. So basically never.

What a darn shame. I really want me a crowbar and Gordon Freeman emoticon!

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Last Updated: September 7, 2016