Half-Life 2 Xbox set for Euro release in late summer

A British Microsoft source has claimed that Half-Life 2 on Xbox is now likely to ship in September in Europe, quashing rumours that the port is to grace Microsoft's next generation console as a launch title later this year.

Valve's Doug Lombardi added credence to the news this morning, but fell short of specifying a release date.

"We plan to finish development of Half-Life 2 Xbox in late summer and have it available everywhere very shortly thereafter," he told Eurogamer. "No specific date to share just yet." US reports are suggesting that the game is to be finished in August.

Lombardi added, "Aftermath is currently planned as a PC release," when asked whether or not the newly announced add-on would be included in the console package. That'll be a "no", then.

Microsoft and Vivendi both declined to comment on the release date of Half-Life 2's Xbox version yesterday. The content of the game for Xbox is now thought to be exactly the same as the PC outing, although some dilution of texture detail and auto-aiming are likely to grace the port.

Sequel to the 1998 classic, sci-fi FPS Half-Life 2 wowed the PC community last year with its excellence across the board and showed a glimpse of things to come to the retail world by successfully rolling out through Steam, Valve's online distribution system, before it even hit stores.