daily knowledge: Half-Life 2 was initially scheduled to launch on September 30th, 2003, with the launch party taking place on Alcatraz Island, the venue rented out for the event. But when the day came and Gabe Newell took to the stage, he said "I hate release dates because no matter how hard we try, we screw them up." The game had been delayed only a week prior, and not long after, Valve would be hacked and a leak would reveal the game was nowhere near complete. The game would not launch for another year.
