Half-Life appears uncensored in Germany after 20 years

Half-Life, Valve’s classic shooter that came out nearly twenty years ago, is now officially available uncensored for the first time in Germany. Violent scenes, blood and other controversial elements had been removed or heavily modified in the original German version.

Half-Life Uncensored is available in Germany via Steam. This version is only available for download by Germans aged 18 and over who also own the original censored version of Half-Life. Valve made Half-Life Uncensored available on Steam this week after it emerged in late April that Half-Life had been removed from “the index.” This is a list of the German organization BPjM, an inspection body that assesses, among other things, films and games whether they are harmful to children.

In a 1998 interview, Valve CEO Gabe Newell said that for Half-Life to enter the German market, it was necessary, among other things, to replace all human characters with robots, replace blood with oil, and exchange body parts for mechanical ones. components such as springs. Newell expressed his frustration and was not happy with the situation in which a government acted as paternalistic and determined for its citizens what they could and could not see.

The new uncensored version of Half-Life available for download on Steam will replace the old original censored version. Once Half-Life Uncensored has been downloaded and installed, users will not be able to revert to the original censored version of Half-Life, according to information on Steam. Any saved games saved from the original Half-Life will still be usable in Half-Life Uncensored.

Some images from the original censored German verse of Half-Life