Two of Valve’s older games now have browser ports, giving us something to play without even launching Steam…

It has already been proven that DOOM can run on vegetables, but the magic of porting is not only about shooting cacodemons on increasingly ridiculous hardware configurations. Sometimes the simpler ideas are the most impressive. This browser port of Half-Life 2 is a great example.

It is not as absurd as running a game on a potato, but it is still extremely impressive. There are a few problems, as the frame rate can fluctuate and certain animations do not work perfectly, but Half-Life 2 genuinely runs in a browser. You can play normally, use console commands, and waste work hours on something more sophisticated than the average Flash game.

The project received major attention after a tweet from Gabe Follower. According to the post, Slqnt and 98006 created the port in only three months. A later tweet revealed that the project is based on a similar browser version of the original Portal, meaning that two classic Valve games can now be played without downloading anything.

Perhaps they are worth trying while waiting to respawn during a Deadlock match. Fans clearly seem happy that the games can be played in such an unusual environment. One commenter claimed that students across the country will play it extensively in high schools, while another argued that kids do not play Half-Life anymore, something that was probably very different two decades ago.

Either way, it is great to see a major Source-engine FPS running in a browser tab. Perhaps Half-Life 2 will become the next game that programmers run on potatoes, headphones, pregnancy tests, or whatever else happens to be within reach. There is naturally a huge difference between DOOM and Half-Life 2, both in size and system requirements.

Source: PC Gamer, Slqnt, Yikes.pw

A fully playable browser version of Half-Life 2 has just been released to the public. You don’t need to download anything, just open the site and play! The webport was created by Slqnt and 98006 in just three months! pic.twitter.com/x88rMgWhxd

– Gabe Follower (@gabefollower) June 25, 2026

I’ve contacted the creator behind Half-Life 2 webport (@slqntdev) and it turns out his work is based on Portal webport made by Weliveinhell, which is also fully playable in a browser, just open the site and play! https://t.co/BXxnGx4INB pic.twitter.com/fSN9FO6H7M

– Gabe Follower (@gabefollower) June 25, 2026