Ok, maybe a little dead.

Some time ago, I posted to say things were still happening behind the scenes and well, that was true at the time. Obviously things have moved on a little and well, here we are, 12 years later. The team are all working proper jobs that pay mortgages or rent and all that boring adult stuff and so the odds of this appearing back from the grave are pretty slim.

I (Ging) went into academia and I ended up running a games development degree because if you can’t do, teach. The Duke-Cox twins are working at their own studio, currently developing The Siege and the Sandfox. Gusdor abandoned games and became a proper software developer. John Roberts produced art for indie hit Gunpoint, following that up with Heat Signature and he’s now working on Tactical Breach Wizards. Ricky C joined and stayed in the games industry, including a stint working on the MotoGP series.

If it ever does reappear, it won’t be a mod and it won’t be on Source and that’s a huge if, so don’t get any hopes up.

Obviously, there have been some clones that have popped up over the years since we last released an update. Some of those are in the spirit of the mod and might just take an element of two of our gameplay. Others have been a little more blatant and gone ahead and taken basically everything (one in particular just went ahead and lifted everything including our name).

We’ve never given permission to anyone to remake the game directly – if folk want to make a game that’s similar, go for it, just add your own spin to it and make it your own, but don’t lift our lore, levels or just boringly clone our mechanics (definitely don’t use our name, please). We’ll continue to deny permission to remake the mod exactly, if you think you want to do that, don’t – use the energy to produce something shiny and new instead!

43 Responses to “Ok, maybe a little dead.”

  1. Gamma says:

    Well, Ging, thanks for the update anyway. You’re behind one of my favourite games, even if it was never completed and I wasn’t around for it’s initial popularity or when SeaNanners joined the fray. While I wish Beta 5 and beyond was a reality, sometimes, you just have to move on for better things. Godspeed to you and the rest of the team who worked on this frankly janky, but fun mod.

  2. arisha39 says:

    thanks you all for a great game and best time spent with my friends i’m glad you all achieved great success, good luck in your future life and success in everything <3

  3. SnakeBeater says:

    didn’t expect to see an update on the front page of the game after all these years, thanks for it, Ging.

    this game holds a LOT of good memories, man.
    Even if you do never release a full game, or even another update, I’ll continue to play it sometimes as long as there are still servers.

    I’ll always HOPE it comes back, and if it does, I don’t care if it’s free or not, I won’t even wait for a steam sale, Hidden is a game I’d pay full price for, hell, I’d make an alt and buy it twice!

    What I’m trying to say is, Ging, thank you for this wonderful work of art, and all the good times it created.

  4. Sathor says:

    It is funny to think of a mod you played ages ago and from time to time think about. Then you google it a few years or months after your last thought on it, and there we have this update post just days ago. Time moved on, we all grew up. The HL2 mods days were some of the most fun days I had, Zombie Panic: Source, The Hidden: Source. Thank you for you work!

  5. sev says:

    Guys thank you so much!
    Hidden Source was one of the best gaming experience I’ve ever had! From time to time memories come flooding back and the shot of nostalgia is amazing.
    Wishing you all the best in your lives, and I’ll keep my ears open… who knows! 🙂

  6. SwivelHipSmith says:

    Played this mod a lot back then. Recently came to mind and decided to check in. Thanks for the memories fellas and hope life treats you all well.

  7. The Good Pilgrim says:

    Loved the mod. It’s easily one of my all time favourites. It gave me a lot of good memories. I’d hope to see this gem revitalized someday, but until then I wish you all the best in whatever you guys decide to do.

  8. Jester Lewis says:

    Thanks for Your words and all the great times You gave us with this game! Really!
    If You teach, maybe there is room for a students-project to bring back this great game on the screen.
    Just a thought. 😉

  9. Becky says:

    Is it in the cards to perhaps hand the project off to someone or open source it, for the purpose of fixing bugs and crashes? I love The Hidden dearly, but it was left in a bit of a rough state in this regard. I don’t really like any of the “remakes”, they mess up a lot of subtle things, all I want is a version of the game that works more stable.

  10. bullhammer59 says:

    I never played The Hidden in its prime, I did see videos of it on youtube way back when, but it all came full circle when i invited a small group of friends to play The Hidden together just recently… so much damn fun! Old is gold!

  11. Pat212 says:

    Thank you everyone for the great memories, I hope we see similar titles pop up in the future!

    God…The Source engine has really come a long way, glad to have played with you all, hope to hear from you in the future!

  12. Kloosie says:

    Thank you for all the memorys you and your old team provided for me and others via this game, I pray it comes back even despite the likelihood of that occurring, but nevertheless less thank you, and if anybody else still plays I’m on the original game and the gmod servers.

  13. FlippyLe says:

    This game brings back alot of good memories of me messing with my friends and it was always a good time. i wish you and the team the best and wish you all the best on your future endeavours ps i was 17 went i played this game damn i feel old xD

  14. o_O says:

    Had great fun spending a lot of Time into the Game for years, checked every known then if the Game was still alive sadly it wasn’t the case, seananners and shroud brought this game back alive for quite a while back then but it wasn’t forever sadly. Oh well here we are 17 years later since i started playing, i guess sometimes it’s just better to keep things in the past rather then hoping something will happen.

    Quite surprised people still check the Homepage out after all these Years, fascinating Community.

    Everyone, have a fantastic life.

  15. Tower says:

    I to, poke into this website from time to time and continue to be amazed that it’s still live! I must admit, I have wanted to make some sort of clone of this because of the endless hours of fun I previously experienced when playing it but alas. I am no game developer so I shall sit here and wait for the day that the next version (with a big IF thrown in there) is created.
    If there is ever an official version of this that does need testing, please don’t hesitate to reach out and ask for help! I’ll even host the servers!

  16. astra says:

    i cant fucking believe it, an update! Good to see you guys are still alive haha

  17. Lych says:

    Unbelievable. There is a random update 12 years later

  18. Teebarn says:

    Holy moly I’ve had hours of fun in this game back in the days! Is this still playable or is it lost in the void?

  19. Kalii says:

    “We’ll continue to deny permission to remake the mod exactly, if you think you want to do that, don’t – use the energy to produce something shiny and new instead!”
    is a sentiment I have mixed feelings about
    people should make something new yes, don’t just lift the assets. But I’m not a fan of just, camping on good ideas that you are never gonna use past what already exists. It partly leaves up in the air “how close is too close”.

  20. seladore says:

    booted it up on a saturday night but all the servers were empty. a shame ! but thank you for all the good times i loved playing the hidden

  21. Ging says:

    We can’t (and don’t even try) to stop people from making a game with the same idea; we just take issue when people want to “remake” or “reboot” the mod itself (implying the use of the name and background story bits). There have been a few games over the years that we’ve seen pop up and kept an eye on (Project Void for example) because they’re using the same idea but putting their own spin on it.

  22. The Dark Prince says:

    Hi Ging,
    it has been a long while since I enjoyed playing Hidden. I’m glad you and the rest of the team did succeed each in their own way.
    Thanks for providing us with such a great and unique game. I wish you all the best in life.

  23. Andy says:

    Funny enough, I have been working on a Hidden Like game in Unreal for the last year now. I am self taught and it has been incredibly slow progress with life. But I remade a spot from the Stalkyard map and the rest of the map is my own creation. A long with the other maps being inspired by the original maps but my own versions of them. I would like to keep SOME basic premises from The Hidden, like certain game mechanics (Heat vision, sticking to walls) but changing the lore, character’s, and other game mechanics entirely. Different name and Different ideas with the inspiration of this GLORIOUS game!

  24. teteo says:

    Eu estive aqui muahahahahaha

  25. Drael says:

    Damn, I used to play this mod and host my own server for friends back in primary school. It was even a bit earlier than SeaNanners made the mod popular.
    Thanks for all the great laughs and memories!
    Wish you guys all the best in your boring adult lives. haha <3

  26. Saxon says:

    holy shit you guys actually responded after one decade later
    best of luck to y’all!

  27. TracerTong2052 says:

    Just dropped in to redownload the mod, because I reinstalled Windows recently. Wow, didn’t expect any news on here. Thanks for making this mod. I am planning on still playing it from time time, as long as there are servers. Best of luck to the team!

  28. sdsd eree says:

    i play it in his prime and since i try to replay it again, i’m actully try to download it

  29. BiPP says:

    Thanks for the update <3

  30. Mishvik says:

    I still hope that the project will stay alive, i like to call my friends once in a while and relax playing this masterpiece

  31. If it bleeds. says:

    Thanks for all the memories guys. Glad to hear you’re all doing well.

    We lived in the golden age of games and mods in the early 2000s and the 20teens. Reading an update after more then a decade after I’ve first played this mod brings a literal tear to my eye.

    Keep on creating and wish you all the best!

  32. Hersheymeister says:

    This may be a stupid question. I wanted to play today for old times sake (im 22) and the game was uninstalled from my computer is this no longer playable on any server?

  33. Ging says:

    There are still some servers up, though it can take a bit of time to find one with more people on.

  34. Anonymous says:

    Thank you for making this mod, it was one of the first mods I ever played in 2007. I also ended up making life-long friends thanks to this mod in a weird roundabout way.

  35. Ricky says:

    Hey would be definitely intrested In helping make a new game based on the mod also would like to ask for permission to make my own in case u decide on not making it I really loved the game and had a blast felt very natrual and diffrent I also have various ideas for other subjects and game modes ( hidden story line)

  36. THCContent says:

    Thank you for making this mod way back in the day. I spent many hours as a teenager after school playing this at a friends house, learning every level and all the tech as the Hidden.

    I still check in all these years later. Like everyone, I’ve aged. 35 now. Life is different, but I’m grateful to be able to return to these little segments of time. Thanks for keeping the website up too for all these years, I half expect it to be gone every time I decide to check in.

  37. OmarFW says:

    This was and is one of the best source mods to come out of that golden era. I hope y’all are doing well and that we can one day get a hidden standalone game from the OGs.

  38. Xombiemagic says:

    I am going to miss this game, I loved EVERY game i played.

  39. HatchedTundra says:

    I’ll still be playing it, im even thinking about getting my friends to play and stream it with me. I look forward to the next chapter in your lives if you share them at a future date, as someone who was young playing this game, you made a perfect masterpiece. I dont care if people say its janky. It has more character than most games now, it has true emotion in it. I look forward to anything else you share about the game, and ill be keeping my eye open for someone’s own version, or the eventual comeback. ik it might not happen, but there’s plenty of people who would throw themselves into this game to make it a reality again, i understand it wouldn’t be the same as when you made it together with everyone else, but i would like to see it live again, even if its only in spirit.

  40. geosmi says:

    Was so happy to see an update in 2024 after randomly stumbling here again with some friends… I had the best memories from back in 2008-2009.

    Thank you for making this mod and glad to see the old devs still kicking it.

  41. Nonlin says:

    Glad to see folks are doing well.

    I started on a passion project to re-make the spirit of this game in Unreal Engine 4 back in 2017. Eventually teamed up with some talented folks equally as passionate. We got far I like to think. I was really stuck on trying to get rag doll physics to replicate in UE4 at the time and then I worked on my own horror game for release and the rest of the team went about doing their own thing so it never really took off like the OG Hidden Source. Mad respect to you and the team for pulling it off.

  42. Voron says:

    The first time I saw this game on YouTube I always wanted to play it… I played it and… it’s a pity that this game is so dead right now, it could have a future… who knows, maybe someday it will be resurrected)

  43. Thymang says:

    I’ve had so much fun playing this mod. But everything comes to an end. I had to move to other game to continue enjoying the old feeling but, it’s not the same. Well, at least it’s very similar.

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