- Rise and Shine - 1 July 2024
...although we have rather been sleeping on the job, haven't we? It's been a while. Our deepest apologies on that front: both myself and Ross have been dealing with some incredibly challenging obstacles in our lives, and it has unfortunately meant that we had to place the comic on a temporary hiatus. We realise we should’ve signaled this earlier, but events unfolded quickly. Still, it’s no excuse for having kept you in the dark. I suppose the most pertinent question is: are we back? Barring catastrophe, we will be returning to production on Chapter 9 this autumn. A Place in the West—to the horror of some, we’re sure—won’t ever die. It’s just a question of when we’ll reach the end. We've published 8 chapters so far, and there's going to be 15 in total. We have every intention of concluding the story. Thank you so much for sticking with us. It means the world. Every chapter has been disco…
- The Steam Spring Sale is Here! - 17 March 2023
Hey everyone! The spring sale just landed, and we've discounted every chapter of the comic. If you haven't picked up some of the later chapters, now is a great time to do it - we're about a month and change away from the next release: Interlude 8.5 - The Philosopher's Paradise. Expect sepulchral horror, cosmic mysteries, and a very resentful tumbler of whisky. Best wishes, Mike and Ross
- Steam Winter Sale and 2023 Update! - 22 December 2022
Hey gang! First things first: we're sorry for the radio silence these past few months. We know you've had lots of questions on achievements - like, when will they work? - and when you can expect the next chapter, but we've had to dial our production schedule back. Unfortunately I've been really, really sick, and Ross and I decided the next thing to do was for me to focus on getting better. I'm still going through that process, but we have every intention of upping our game in 2023. And yes, that includes fixing Steam achievements and getting the comic Deck verified. These are our priorities outside of making more issues. Right now, though, it's the Steam Winter Sale, and we've discounted every chapter! Although the year has been slow, we're super pleased with our release of Chapter 8 - Remnant, which we honestly think is our best chapter yet. If you haven't checked it out yet, it's on s…
- Anniversary Sale! - 1 October 2022
Hey everyone, We're just dropping a quick line (slightly late) because yesterday marked six years that we've been on Steam! In that time, we've released 8 chapters (two of them twice) totaling about 267 pages, plus the interludes for another 68 pages. It's been quite a journey, and there's much more to come. To celebrate, we've discounted every chapter of the comic (including the recently released Chapter 8 - Remnant) as well as the soundtracks, and some by considerable margins. Pick 'em up now if you haven't already! We apologise for being a little quiet since the release of Remnant. There'll be some substantial updates to follow soon, both on Interlude 8.5 - Shing Optimacy and Chapter 9 - Echoes of Time in the City of Dreams, as well as achievements and translations. My Steam Deck is also slated to arrived later today, so hopefully we'll be able to make the comic compatible with that…
- A Place in the West is in the Steam Summer Sale! - 24 June 2022
Hey gang, We hope you're all enjoying Chapter 8 - Remnant. As you've no doubt noticed, the Steam Summer Sale is officially live. We've discounted chapters 2 - 7 and both volumes of the soundtrack, so if you haven't caught up yet, now's a great opportunity to do just that! Coming up we'll have more information on translations, achievements (finally!), and, in a few months, Interlude 8.5 - Shing Optimacy, which contains flashbacks to both Leyla and Dreyfus' recent past... and a surprise new face. Best wishes, Mike and Ross
- Chapter 8: Remnant released! - 19 June 2022
Hey gang! We are incredibly excited to announce the release of the eighth chapter of Half-Life: A Place in the West! You can pick up Remnant right now, with it being available to read via our Steam app or as a PDF in your Steam Directory. The art team have done an amazing job, producing what we honestly believe to be our best chapter yet. Yes, we say that every time, but we just feel so confident in our creative growth, and hope you will, too. Next up is Interlude 8.5 - Shing Optimacy, which we'll be looking to release some time around our anniversary in September. Along with that we're planning to release some other things that have been in the works for some time - translations (both for Russian and for German!), an update to the quality of the comic images delivered, and hopefully a fix for achievements. We hope you enjoy the new installment as much we do, and can't wait to hear your…
- Chapter 8 released! - 19 June 2022
Chapter 8, Remnant has been released!
- Chapter 8 Store Page is Live - Wishlist now! - 4 June 2022
Hey everyone! We apologise for the radio silence so far this year. We've been busy! Chapter 8 - Remnant is close to completion and will release quite soon. The store page is officially live, so give it a wishlist to be notified of its release! What's the next installment about, then? Good question: Sejal Rajani’s Opposition have captured City Hall and imprisoned Major General Long – as well as Leyla Poirier and Albert Kempinski. As Rajani prepares to put Long on trial, the vortigaunt Dreyfus penetrates the mysterious edifice known as Remnant, determined to hunt down an ancient enemy. A shard of metal stripped from the lost Citadel, Remnant’s purpose – and the fate of the kidnapped children – is at last revealed. I've also been working hard to get achievements up-and-running again. Expect to hear more about that soon. It's been a rough ride, and we apologise. But it really is drawing to…
- Prequel Novel Half-Life: Phase Transition - 11 January 2022
Hey gang! Happy New Year! Just a short update from us: For the past year Ross has been hard at work on a full-length prequel novel to A Place in the West called Half-Life: Phase Transition. It's not yet complete and won't start releasing until the summer, but as a taste of what to expect we have made the prologue available for reading. You can find it right here: https://www.halflifenovel.com/chapter/prologue/ Let us know what you think and stay tuned for updates on Chapter 8 - Remnant very soon... ...very soon. Best, Mike and Ross
- Winter Sale - 26 December 2021
Hey gang! We hope you've all enjoyed Interlude 7.5 - Castle Okno! We just wanted to drop a quick word to say we've discounted every chapter of the comic for the Steam Winter Sale, as well as both soundtracks. If there's any chapters you're missing, now is a great time to pick them up. A very Merry Christmas to all of you - stay safe. Mike and Ross
- Interlude 7.5 - Castle Okno Released! - 20 December 2021
Hey all, We’re very proud to announce the release of Interlude 7.5 – Castle Okno! It’s eight pages in length and, as is our custom with the interludes, totally free: just boot up the app or check your Steam directory for the PDF. What’s it about? Over a year before Leyla and Dreyfus arrive in North America, they infiltrate a Combine weather station in Eastern Europe - Castle Okno - on a secret mission. It’s brought to you by Ross Joseph Gardner, Michael Pelletier, Kristian Rossi, Ester Salguero, and DC Hopkins. What’s up next? Well, that'd be Chapter 8 - Remnant. Unfortunately the ongoing pandemic has contributed to our efforts being slowed somewhat, but we're excited to kick into gear with it in the new year. Chapter 8 contains some big revelations. We will also have more changes coming! We're going to prioritize reworking the images and PDFs to be a higher quality without hopefully cu…
- Autumn Sale and 7.5 Update! - 26 November 2021
Hey gang, We just wanted to drop a quick word to say that the Steam Autumn Sale is now live and we've discounted every chapter of the comic as well as both volumes of the soundtrack. If you haven't checked them out yet, go go go! We're also on the cusp of releasing interlude 7.5 - Castle Okno. It's an 8-page story that details a key event in Leyla's past. As a teaser, here's the first page. See you in a couple of weeks! Mike and Ross
- Anniversary Sale and Update! - 30 September 2021
Hello gang, We hope you’ve had a stellar summer. As we head into autumn, we thought we’d give you an update on where we’re at and what to expect for the rest of the year. We want to first take a moment to celebrate our five year anniversary of being on Steam! It's a huge milestone for us - Five years ago, Ross and I were huddled around a laptop together in Boston, pushing out the first build of the app, and preparing for the Steam Dev Days conference in Seattle. A whole lot has changed in the world since then, and that’s true of us, too. Five chapters, two remakes, several interludes – it’s a lot of pages, and puts us squarely at the halfway point in our story. We’d prefer not to take another five years wrapping things up, but comics are an expensive business. Which brings us to the remainder of 2021. Whilst our original plan was to have Chapter 8: Remnant well into production by now, i…
- We're on sale! The Steam Summer Sale is live! - 24 June 2021
The Steam Summer Sale is now live, which means chapters 2 through to 6, plus both soundtracks, are now sale! We hope you’ll take this opportunity to pick up any chapters you’ve yet to read. We're officially halfway through our story! It's been a real honour to see Chapter 7 – The Dark Between The Stars so positively received. Up next is Interlude 7.5 – Castle Okno, which will be released for free later this year. It’s a flashback to Leyla’s time in Eastern Europe, and takes us to a Combine weather station somewhere in the outlands… We’ll have more details very soon. We are also still working on getting the Achievements fixed, and would like to apologize once again for the length of time that it is taking. Our friends Vsevolod Stepanov and Pavel Lapinsky are also hard at work on the Russian translations. In the meantime, do pick up the other chapters – whether it’s for yourself, your sig…
- Chapter 7 Released! - 24 May 2021
Hey folks! We’re very pleased to announce that Chapter 7: The Dark Between the Stars has been released. It marks the halfway point in our story and features 38 pages of all-new artwork by Kristian Rossi, Ester Salguero, and DC Hopkins. It’s an incredibly exciting chapter that sees the comic’s setting, New Franklin, descend into civil war as Long, Rajani, and Banks fight for control of its future. Next up is Interlude 7.5: Castle Okno, which will be released for free later this year. It’s a flashback to Leyla’s time in Eastern Europe, and takes us to a Combine portal monitoring station somewhere in the wilderness… But that’s not all we’re working on. We know the wait between chapters is long. It’s not ideal, but comics are incredibly expensive and are funded by our jobs. We can only make what we can afford. However, we want to introduce more content that expands the comic’s world and giv…
- Achievements Currently Disabled - 23 May 2021
Hi all, We wanted to give a quick update because we know a few people have been having trouble unlocking achievements over the last couple of months. Unfortunately, there appears to be some kind of problem with the library that we’re using where it sometimes(?) can’t seem to load the proper files. We're incredibly sorry that this has occurred. We know it's not acceptable, especially when half of those achievements are locked behind a paywall; we're meant to deliver the service we say we are, but right now we can't. That's just not okay, and we're going to try and make it up to our readers as soon as we can. Our plan is to hopefully work with the creators of the library to get this sorted out, but in the meantime, to keep the potential break from negatively affecting other functionality, we’ve disabled achievements within the app. In the interest of transparency, we’ll also be posting th…
- Chapter 7's Store Page is Live! - 17 May 2021
Hey gang! A super quick update from us: the store page for Chapter 7: The Dark Between the Stars is now live! We’ll be releasing this month, but in the meantime give us a wishlist! We can’t wait to release this! Mike and Ross
- Production on Chapter 7 is complete! - 11 May 2021
Hey gang, A short update carrying some very, very good news: production on Chapter 7: The Dark Between the Stars has been completed! We don’t have a precise release date yet, but our plan is to have it to all of you by the end of this month. We’re so excited with the completed product and it represents the halfway point in our story. Better yet, it’s 38 pages as opposed to the traditional 30, and at the same price – a thank you from us for your patience over the last year of remakes! Here’s the synopsis: The Dark Between the Stars is the seventh chapter in the Half-Life: A Place in the West saga, and continues the story of New Franklin – an American enclave with a mysterious cosmic tower at its heart. Leonard Banks, the power plant foreman, issues an ultimatum to Cormac Long and Sejal Rajani: relinquish control of the city or he will start deactivating its defences. When neither Long no…
- Chapter 7 Update (and a new Discord server!) - 3 March 2021
Hey gang, We just thought we’d give you a quick update since it has been a bit. We’re about to hit the halfway mark on Chapter 7: The Dark Between the Stars, which puts us in a comfortable position to release sometime in June. At 38 pages it’s a larger chapter than most, but that’s befitting the scope of the story. It puts us at the midway point in our comic, so it’s a big deal for us! We’re very excited as to how it’s coming together and the team are doing a stellar job. We have also launched a Discord server for the comic. If you’d like to chat to us, tell us what we’re doing wrong, or have suggestions for the app, come on over! We’d love to hear what you have to say. Beyond that, you’ll find a very pleasant and amiable community of Half-Life fans. Join our Discord! That’s it from us for the time being. We hope you’ve enjoyed the remakes and are looking forward to the future of A Plac…
- The Lunar New Year Sale is here! - 11 February 2021
Hey gang, Happy New Year! We’re hoping you're all safe and well, given last year’s less than stellar global performance. Steam’s Lunar New Year event has just started, which means all chapters, including both soundtracks, are now on sale! As you likely know we have remade the first two chapters of the comic, so now’s a really terrific time to check them out. For better or for worse, do consider leaving us a review—we’re really keen to hear what everyone thinks of how the project is taking shape. At present we’re knee-deep in production on Chapter 7: The Dark Between the Stars, which is roughly the halfway mark in our story. We can’t commit to a release window just yet, but as soon as we can, you’ll know about it. In the meantime, do check out the rest of the comic and, as ever, thanks for sticking with us. Best wishes, Mike and Ross
