Half-Life's Humble Beginnings: Valve Almost Aimed for "Class B"
Imagine a book on video game history. In the Half-Life section, one might expect a story of ambition, gamble, and a sheer will for perfection. But the reality of Half-Life's origin story is a little more unconventional. Valve, the team who would give us Gordon Freeman and redefine the first-person shooter genre, came incredibly close to following an oddly humble plan for their very first game.
The Plan: A "Class B" Experiment
During the Game Developers Conference 2025, former Valve marketing director Monica Harrington revealed a fascinating bombshell. According to Harrington, Valve seriously considered publishing a deliberately average game as their first game. It was not a proposal to create an instant revolutionary piece of art. Instead, they planned to develop what one would call a "Class B" game – a game intended to be mediocre, a "middle-of-the-road" game.
Why would they do that? The reason was team-building. The thought was that creating a deliberately "okay" game would be a less tense environment. The team could bond and learn about game-making before attempting something big.
Half-Life's Near Miss with Mediocrity
Interestingly, this "average game" was not even going to be Half-Life. It was another, unnamed project to be developed in addition to the sci-fi FPS we know and love. The plan was to ship this "practice" game before unleashing Half-Life on the world. Fortunately for gaming history, this first project never started. We owe this to Monica Harrington.
Harrington explained she intervened, strongly arguing against this suggestion. She urged the team to dedicate all their efforts to Half-Life and aim for greatness. She explained, "We just said that we need to give it all our best. The game must be among the ten greatest. I said to Gabe: 'Half-Life, from my point of view, only has one option — if we name it game of the year.'" Her conviction persuaded the crew. They gave their undivided effort to Gordon Freeman's adventure.
The "Game of the Year" Marketing Twist
It is almost ironic that Half-Life did become a Game of the Year candidate. And there is another spin on the story. Even after release, Half-Life's initial sales were terrifyingly slow. In a coup de marketing (or more likely an exercise in cheeky self-promotion), Valve re-designed the game's box. They literally printed the self-branded title "Game of the Year" on the box. The rest is history. Sales soared, and Half-Life became a legendary game.
Remember this surprising back story when you next hear the name Valve and Half-Life. A firm that almost set out to "just be okay" changed the face of gaming forever. This was thanks to timely intervention and ambition, and perhaps a bit of marketing hype.
