Half-Life 2 preload delayed

Valve has used a forum post, which is now its most common form of communication, to inform the public that the Half-Life 2 preload has been delayed. "We're going to push the start of the preload back until this coming Monday," read a post from Valve's Erik Johnson on Shacknews.com.

Johnson also gave an explanation for the delay--which will likely satisfy no one. "The main reason was to get out the release (that just happened) to the CS: Source Beta," he said.

While hardly surprising, the preload delay is a bump in Half-Life 2's shortening road to release. It also casts doubt on recent comments by Valve head Gabe Newell on the Halflife2fallout.com forums. Newell had said the game would soon be entering its final round of debugging, typically the final step before a game is submitted for publisher approval.