Happy birthday to Sven Co-op, as Sven Viking sends a reminder that this cooperative modification for Half-Life was first released 17 years ago today. They celebrate the occasion with the news that they will release a new standalone version of Sven Co-op on Friday on Steam that will include new features and a standalone co-op campaign based on the original Half-Live that Valve is allowing them to include free-of-charge. Here's the plan:

Seventeen years and more than two million downloads after the initial version was released in January, 1999, Sven Co-op is about to be released on Steam as a free stand-alone game this Friday! The Steam release contains many new features, engine upgrades and development tools.

Additionally, Valve Software has allowed a co-operative version of their original Half-Life single-player campaign to be included with Sven Co-op free of charge, with no requirement to own the original game.