November 30, 2004 - Despite the triumphant praise sung for Half-Life 2, many critics and gamers noted disappointment that Valve's sequel did not include in-game multiplayer options. Instead, the dressed-up Counter-Strike: Source filled the role we hoped some Freeman-vs.-Combine online deathmatching would provide. Just think of the gravity gun fights alone.

Guess what? Our hopes may have been answered: the latest news update on Valve's Steam site features nothing but one big, telling image (see right) and the caption "SOON."

The original image name, by the way, is "HL2DM.JPG." We're not saying anything official, because we haven't seen more than this either, but someone guessing that Half-Life 2 Deathmatch is imminent is probably not a plastic pancake-eating crazy person.

As always, stay tuned for more.