Half-Life 2 and Portal now run in your web browser

Developers Slqnt and 98006 have ported Half-Life 2 to run directly in a web browser — no install, no launcher, just the full Source engine FPS in a tab. The project took three months to build and follows an earlier browser port of the original Portal by the same team.

The port is functional enough to play through normally, including console command support. Performance isn't perfect — frame rates can be inconsistent and some animations are broken — but the core game runs. Gabe Follower amplified the project with a post on X, which is where most of the attention is coming from.

Browser ports like this sit in a long tradition of "can it run Doom" engineering stunts, except these are considerably more complex targets. Half-Life 2 runs on Valve's Source engine, a significantly heavier piece of software than a 1993 id Tech 1 game. Getting it running in a browser without a native install is a genuine technical achievement, even if the frame pacing isn't silky smooth.

Reactions on X are mixed in an entertaining way. Ripplesworld predicted it would "go triple platinum in middle schools nationwide," while HivoltageCS was more skeptical: "I don't think the children are playing Half-Life anymore, bro." Both Portal and Half-Life 2 browser versions are live if you want to burn some working hours on something more involved than a Flash game.