Black Mesa Has A Release Date for the Xen Chapters

After waiting for what seems like ages, Freeman will be making his way into the Xen. Black Mesa, the fan-made modern remake of the original Half-Life, has a release date for the Xen chapters of the game.

Announced in a dev post on the Steam Forums, Crowbar Collective first gave praise to those that participated in their recent technical beta. But it quickly got to the part everyone was waiting for: the Black Mesa Xen release date.

The Xen and Gonarch's Lair chapters of the game will release on August 1 to the public beta. A few weeks after that, the final three chapters, Interloper, Nihilanth, and Endgame will be added as well.

Black Mesa was met with some criticism when it released into public beta, only to end before the player actually reaches the Xen, an alien realm that the opposing forces came from. Since then, the development team has been working on adding in the missing content, while also improving the quality of the game and its engine. They attribute this method for the game's quality.

"We think this staggered release will allow us to more thoroughly test all components of this massive game, and catch bugs faster. Once we can ensure a smooth launch, we'll push the whole Xen campaign out of beta for everyone to enjoy."

Black Mesa is available now as an open beta on Steam for $20.