After months if not years of litigation, code leaks, missed deadlines and general hoo-ha, Half life 2 has finally gone gold. More important still, is that Vivendi has set a global launch date - the 16th November.

Vivendi plans to ship localized versions of the game simultaneously (English, French, Spanish, Italian, German, Traditional and Simplified Chinese, Korean, Thai and Japanese) on the date.

As well as appearing in the shops, the title will also be available to download over the internet direct from the game's makers, Valve.

Half-Life is one of the most awaited games of the last couple of years and is likely to go straight to the top of the chart for Chirstmas.

>> Vivendi Universal Interactive - Official website of Vivendi Universal Interactive