Also check out the original award-winning Left 4 Dead available on Steam.
Read The Sacrifice comic
Get Left 4 Dead 2 merchandise
May 4th Update
May 4, 2012 - L4D Team
Follow the Liter, Infection!
Follow the Liter
Scavenge one can at a time.
No more fighting over what cans to grab first. This Mutation spawns only one group of cans at a time, so survivors know exactly where to go. There is only one problem: the Infected know exactly where they are going.
This presents a different strategy from regular Scavenge mode and actually tips match in favor of the Infected.
Infection!
Besides working on getting the DLC out on the 360 and playing L4D2 ourselves, the team has recently started playing some other zombie infection related games we thought we would share.
Our most obvious pick is Telltale’s The Walking Dead: The Game - Episode 1 available on Steam. If you love the comic and like the TV show as much as we do, the game is a great addition to the franchise.
Just this week, Pandemic 2.5 was released on the IOS. We played this game a ton on the PC while we thought about how viruses spread. While it is not a scholarly study like the book Flu, it is quite a bit more fun. With its release on the iPhone, you can now plot the world’s demise while sit in the Doctor’s office waiting for your appointment.
Let us know in the forums or on Facebook what games you’re playing.
April 20th Update
April 20, 2012 - L4D Team
Today we have released a pretty big update for Left 4 Dead 2 that includes map bug and exploits fixes.
These changes will be coming to the Xbox 360 with the title update that will accompany Cold Stream’s release. Before we send the game off to certification, we want to test these fixes on the PC. So please, give these maps a play through and tell us what you think.
The Cold Stream DLC will include 21 maps in total - the Cold Stream, Blood Harvest, Crash Course, Dead Air, and Death Toll campaigns. Besides the massive amount of new content, 360 users will also be getting many of the bug fixes and changes we have implemented since the last update.
We don’t have a release date yet, but we will make sure to post the minute we do.
Friday the 13th Update - Last Man On Earth, Loners?
April 13, 2012 - L4D Team
Last Man On Earth
You will become legend to the infected as the last human left.
You are the only Survivor left in the world. No split screen help. No Survivor bots. But don't worry you aren't entirely alone. While there are no common Infected, Special Infected will hunt you down and become close, close friends with you.
Loners?
While the first part of this blog post should make the results of our last poll obvious, the second place finisher is just as interesting. Between Lone Gunman and "scared to play alone," seems about 30% of you are "scared to play alone" – putting that choice in second place. With that being true, today is a great day to overcome that fear and play Left 4 Dead 2 alone with Last Man On Earth.
After all, it is Friday the 13th, what could happen?
March 29th Update - Versus Survival
March 29, 2012 - L4D Team
Versus Survival
The first Survivor team sets the time. The second team tries to beat it. Then the first team tries to beat the second team's time. Then the second team tries to beat the first team's time. And then the... you get the idea. Rounds keep switching until someone fails to beat the previous time.
Continued...
March 16th Update - Four Swordsmen of the Apocalypse, DLC Date, Upcoming Mutations
March 16, 2012 - L4D Team
Four Swordsmen of the Apocalypse
Four Swords against plenty of apocalypse!
Armed with only swords the survivors face near continuous streams of Special Infected ready to be sliced and diced.
Continued...
Feb 3rd Update - Hard Eight, More Cold Stream
February 3, 2012 - L4D Team
Hard Eight!!
Double the specials, quadruple the fun!
Face eight Special Infected at one time, this is double the standard number! And if that wasn’t trouble enough, we also increase the spawning frequency so it is raining Specials.
Why aren’t you going to give it a try? Scared?
More Cold Stream
Today we are releasing some bug and exploit fixes on the PC for Blood Harvest...
Continued...
Friday the 13th Update - Gib Fest, Cold Stream
January 13, 2012 - L4D Team
Gib Fest
Blast the infected to shreds with M60s.
Swords can slice up some fun. Chainsaws can tear apart the infected. But you need to get close for both and well… chainsaws are really loud! Time to go with the ultimate gun, you and three friends armed with M60s and unlimited ammo. This is going to get messy.
Cold Stream
As we recently posted on our blog, we are busy working on the full Cold Stream DLC which will include Cold Stream, Blood Harvest, Crash Course, Dead Air, Death Toll, and No Mercy. We will be updating Campaigns on Steam with bug fixes as we get ready to ship the DLC.
Check the release notes as the list of fixes is extensive. The Xbox 360 will get Campaigns with the bug fixes at a future date.
Continued...
Cold Stream Update
January 6, 2012 - L4D Team
With the team back from the holidays, we have been hard at work on the Cold Stream DLC and wanted to let you know what is going on.
Continued...
Holiday Update
December 16, 2011 - L4D Team
If you have been playing Left 4 Dead 2 for a bit, you probably have your own lists of who is naughty and who is nice. We already make it easy for you to track who is being nice – we have the Steam Friends list. But we know people can rage, players can grief, and some people… well some people you just don’t want to play another game with.
For those special people, we have the blocked list. Think of it as your own personal naughty list. Not only will those people not be getting gifts from you this holiday season, they also won’t be joining you in any games, reindeer or otherwise.
Once you add someone to your blocked list, they will not be able to join your game. This means they are blocked through the lobby interface, the server browser, the recently played list, and even direct connecting. They are gone from your life.
Continued...
Left 4 Dead Zombie Holiday Sale!
December 10, 2011 - L4D Team
Looking around at holiday decorations and sales, we noticed an alarming lack of zombies. We need to fix that.
Continued...
December 2nd Update - Special Confogl Update
December 2, 2011 - L4D Team
Confogl
Competitive Versus Mutation
Confogl is a set of rules for competitive L4D2 Versus that standardizes many of the elements and changes item and weapon distribution. In general it tips the balance a bit more towards the Infected.
Continued...
Oct 21st Update - Iron Man, Impact Special, Confogl?
October 21, 2011 - L4D Team
Iron Man
No respawns, no restarts, no ammo, all tension!
Do you think the game is too easy? Looking for a challenge? Try this one on Expert. Realism rules are in effect. There are no respawns in the map. There is no ammo. If your team wipes, you need to restart the whole campaign.
Continued...
October 7th Update
October 7, 2011 - L4D Team
Gib Fest, Mobile, L4D2 in L4D1, Community Help
Continued...
Sept 23rd Update
September 23, 2011 - L4D Team
Healthpackalypse, Glitches, Game on your phone?
Continued...
Death Toll Beta Comes To Earth
September 16, 2011 - L4D Team
Continued...
Sept 9th Update
September 9, 2011 - L4D Team
Hunting Party, Guns How Many?, Can you help yourself?
Continued...
August 26th Update
August 26, 2011 - L4D Team
Versus Survival, Upcoming Zombie Apocalypse, Guns! How many?
Versus Survival
The first Survivor team sets the time. The second team tries to beat it. Then the first team tries to beat the second team's time. Then the second team tries to beat the first team's time. And then the... you get the idea. Rounds keep switching until someone fails to beat the previous time.
This is a great way to try Versus. Rounds are only as long as you can keep beating each other’s times. There are no rushing Survivors. Infected spawns get quicker as the time increases. It is mayhem filled with all the weapon perks and items. What’s not to like? Give it a try.
Continued...
August 12th Update
August 12, 2011 - L4D Team
Healing Gnome, Mutations, Cold Stream, First Reaction
Continued...
Streams Crossed!*
July 7, 2011 - L4D Team
We asked for 20,000 players to get the Stream Crosser achievement by Sunday night. You started playing at 10am on Wednesday morning. Four and half hours later you surpassed the 20,000 target. By 5pm you passed 30,000. By this morning at 10am – a mere 24 hours later you hit 60,774!
Continued...
Stream Crossers Needed!
July 6, 2011 - L4D Team
While we are still tweaking Cold Stream and making some game play changes, we really want people to pound on the Cold Stream maps and help us find any bugs.
Continued...
July 1st Update
July 1, 2011 - L4D Team
Lone Gunman, Following L4D2, Movie Fan, Next Wednesday
Continued...
June 17th Update
June 17, 2011 - L4D Team
Hunting Party, The Train Station, Following L4D2
Continued...
May 20th Update
May 20, 2011 - L4D Team
Gib Fest, Midnight Riders Comic, Cold Stream Crescendo
Continued...
April 8th Update
April 7, 2011 - L4D Team
Last Man on Earth, To Tier One Or Not To Tier One, Tier 2
Continued...
March 24th Update
March 24, 2011 - L4D Team
Last Gnome On Earth, Scavenge?, To Tier One Or Not To Tier One
Continued...
Cold Stream Beta Release
March 22, 2011 - L4D Team
Today we are releasing the beta version of Cold Stream. Since we announced it, Matthew has been hard at work on the map and the initial release looks a little more polished than you may have expected.
Continued...
March 11th Update
March 10, 2011 - L4D Team
Follow the Liter, L4D1 Campaigns, Scavenge?
Follow the Liter.
Scavenge one can at a time.
No more fighting over what cans to grab first. This Mutation spawns only one group of cans at a time, so survivors know exactly where to go. There is only one problem: the Infected know exactly where they are going. We dare you to give it a try.
Continued...
February 25th Update
February 25, 2011 - L4D Team
Reminder, Bleed Out , Favorite NPC, Anticipation Reminder
We are going to cycle back to the original Mutations for a little bit. After our recent poll about community Mutations we received many emails pointing out that you cannot earn Mutant Overlord playing custom mutations. Don’t stop with the Mutation ideas, we will come back to community Mutations. We are just taking a little break for now.
Continued...
Mutations
February 21, 2011 - L4D Team
Starting this Friday we are going to cycle back to the original Mutations for a little bit. After our recent poll about community Mutations we received many emails pointing out that you cannot earn Mutant Overlord playing custom mutations. Don’t stop with the Mutation ideas, we will come back to community Mutations. We are just taking a little break for now.
That break will give PC players plenty of time to get ready for the Fragpipe’s crazy L4D2 Tournament. Check their site for more information. If you aren’t up for a tournament, maybe it is time to finally pop the question to your co-op partner.
Continued...
Cold Stream
February 16, 2011 - L4D Team
Sorry for the recent lack of updates, we have been working on a surprise and here it is.
Matthew Lourdelet (2 Evil Eyes) has been working on a new community campaign – Cold Stream. We loved 2 Evil Eyes and Cold Stream looks even more promising with innovative game play arenas and effects. Matthew has really shown that there are still plenty of new ideas in L4D2 modding.
Continued...
February 11th Update
February 11, 2011 - L4D Team
Death’s Door, Kick the Vote, Favorite NPC
Continued...
January 18th - Left 4 Dead Xbox 360 Update
January 18, 2011 - L4D Team
Left 4 Dead Xbox 360 Update
Continued...
January 14th Update
January 14, 2011 - L4D Team
Riding My Survivor, Secondary Weapon, The Next Mutation, Custom Campaigns
Continued...
Featured Campaign: One 4 Nine
January 7, 2011 - L4D Team
The new featured campaign is Kev Edwards’ awesome One 4 Nine.
Continued...
New Year's Eve Update
December 31, 2010 - L4D Team
Flu Season, Mutation Poll, Secondary Weapon, Next Year
Continued...
December 17th Update
December 17, 2010 - L4D Team
Special Delivery, The Walking Dead, The Next Mutation
Continued...
December 10th - Around the World of Left 4 Dead
December 10, 2010 - Chet
No Mutation or poll update today but plenty going on.
Continued...
December 3rd Update
December 3, 2010 - L4D Team
Hard Eight, Do you compete? Mutation Madness, The Road Ahead
Continued...
November 19th Update
November 19, 2010 - L4D Team
Gib Fest and…, You are Glowing, Do you compete?
Continued...
Happy Birthday 2 Us
November 17, 2010 - L4D Team
On this date last year, we released Left 4 Dead 2. The year before Left 4 Dead debuted. The team would like to thank the over 9 million people who have taken the time to prepare for the upcoming zombie apocalypse.
While we continue to update – new stuff coming Friday – we wanted to take a quick look back at the creation of Left 4 Dead 2’s new Special Infected.
Continued...
November 12th Update
November 12, 2010 - L4D Team
Taannkk!, The Breakdown, Feature?
Taannkk!!
Everything is coming up Taannkk!!
Scared to play Versus? Think there is too much strategy? Don’t want to embarrass yourself? Give Taannkk!! a try. We simplify everything. What does everyone spawn as? Tanks. What is trying to kill you? Tanks. Why should you keep running? Tanks. You’re welcome.
Continued...
L4D1 and L4D2 on the Mac
October 27, 2010 - L4D Team
BOOmer!
L4D is on the Mac and more, check out our Halloween page for all the info.
Continued...
October 22nd Update
October 22, 2010 - L4D Team
Lone Gunman, Did you Win, Do you rock?
Lone Gunman
You and your Magnum against the deadly horde and Boomers.
So you have your Magnum pistol and… well you do have your Magnum pistol. You better be counting bullets because four swipes by a common and you are dead. Getting boomed? Forget about it.
Continued...
October 15th Update
October 14, 2010 - L4D Team
Hunting Party, Comics Going Mobile, Did you Win?
Continued...
TF2 Items
October 6, 2010 - L4D Team
The Sacrifice DLC for Left 4 Dead and Left 4 Dead 2 is now available on the Xbox 360!
Continued...
The Sacrifice is out!
October 5, 2010 - L4D Team
We have released the Sacrifice for Left 4 Dead on the PC, for Left 4 Dead 2 on the PC and Mac. It will be released later this evening on the Xbox 360.
We have also released the final issue of the comic for you to read while downloading the DLC.
On Steam Left 4 Dead and Left 4 Dead 2 have had their prices slashed so low, we needed to ask our favorite Georgia gun store owner to explain the pricing to you. Click here to read his explanation of the current sale prices.
Continued...
Monday Sacrifice Update
October 4, 2010 - L4D Team
With that cleared up, here are the winners of the Midnight Rider’s Video contest. Thanks to everyone who entered, viewed and voted. When we originally designed this contest, we expected maybe a handful of clear winners. Instead we had over 80 videos that made it into the final round of voting.
Continued...
Sunday Sacrifice Update
October 3, 2010 - L4D Team
Today we make it official, Left 4 Dead and Left 4 Dead 2 on the Mac. Check out the update page for full details.
Once “The Sacrifice” is released this Tuesday, the Left 4 Dead team will celebrate by playing Left 4 Dead 1 and 2 all day. If you want to join us in a game, on the XBOX 360 look for L4D2 DEV 1, L4D2 DEV 2, L4D2 DEV 3, L4D2 DEV 4, or L4D2 DEV 5. On the PC L4D2_DEV_1, L4D2_DEV_2, L4D2_DEV_3, L4D2_DEV_4, or L4D2_DEV_5. Our friends lists are full but you can look for us playing “The Sacrifice”.
Continued...
Saturday Sacrifice Update
October 2, 2010 - L4D Team
Today’s update covers Mutations.
While we are busy watching videos from the Midnight Rider’s Contest today, we are also assembling all our release notes. Besides the content update we have several updates for Left 4 Dead and Left 4 Dead 2 on all platforms.
Continued...
Friday Sacrifice Update
October 1, 2010 - L4D Team
Today’s update covers achievements. We have the same achievements for Left 4 Dead 1 and Left 4 Dead 2. Should be interesting, which game can get a higher percentage of completed achievements? And exploding barrels?
Don’t forget the cutoff for the Midnight Rider’s Video contest is Midnight tonight PST (Friday Oct 1st). With 160 videos submitted, so many of them amazing, judging this is going to be tough. Thanks to everyone who created a video.
You can use this link to check them out. Vote thumbs up on the ones you like, it helps us see what the community is thinking.
Continued...
The Sacrifice is coming this Tuesday! Tuesday! Tuesday!
September 30, 2010 - L4D Team
The final chapter of the Comic is coming!
“The Sacrifice” campaign for Left 4 Dead 1 is coming!
“The Sacrifice” and “No Mercy” campaigns for Left 4 Dead 2 are coming!
And? And? And? We set up a page here that we will be updating all weekend on what’s coming, including some surprises! Today’s update is the trailer and some awesome screenshots.
Continued...
The Sacrifice Comic Part 3
September 28, 2010 - L4D Team
The third issue of the comic is out! We are one week away from the final chapter and the DLC. People have been asking about what is cannon (the official story) – the game or the comic? The Comic is the official version of events, but Left 4 Dead has always been about organic story telling between you and your friends, so we wanted to not force you into one story line in the game. You get to choose the ending and see how it plays out.
Continued...
"The Sacrifice" - DLC for Left 4 Dead and Left 4 Dead 2
September 27, 2010 - L4D Team
“The Sacrifice” is the prequel to "The Passing," and takes place from the Left 4 Dead Survivors' perspective as they make their way South. You may read the comic to find out the official version of events or this October 5th you may play the game to choose your own ending.
Continued...
Week 23
September 24, 2010 - L4D Team
Survival Versus, What Form?, What the what?
Versus Survival
Can you survive against your friends?
Continued...
The Sacrifice Comic Part Two
September 21, 2010 - L4D Team
Part 2 of The Sacrifice.
Next week we will jump into Francis’s back story and see if he always hated things or if the Zombie Apocalypse changed him.
Continued...
Déjà vu Causes Death
September 15, 2010 - Chet Faliszek
The new featured campaign is City 17. If it seems familiar, it should, it is based on Half-Life 2: Episode 1. While it is may be lacking Gordon, Alyx, and Barney it’s not lacking zombies. And no, they aren't your head-crab induced zombies, these are full on Left 4 Dead 2 zombies.
Continued...
The Sacrifice Comic Starts Tuesday September 14th
September 10, 2010 - L4D Team
This Tuesday we will begin releasing the comic that leads up to the Left 4 Dead 1 and Left 4 Dead 2 DLC “The Sacrifice”. Tuesday will be the first of four parts. To whet your appetite for the upcoming parts, here is the cover art.
Continued...
Week 20
September 3, 2010 - L4D Team
Hard Eight, Whose Back Story?, Favorite Survivor?
Hard Eight
Double the specials, quadruple the fun!
Continued...
Save Me Some Sugar – This won’t take long
September 1, 2010 - L4D Team
Continued...
You're headed in the wrong direction.
August 26, 2010 - Kerry Davis
The new featured community campaign for PC players is Detour Ahead. This 5 map campaign offers Co-op and Versus gameplay. While the explosion in the finale will light the night sky, it's the train bridge you will remember.
To play, first make sure you have the Left 4 Dead 2 Add-on support downloaded in the tools tab of the Steam library.
Continued...
Week 18
August 19, 2010 - L4D Team
Week 18: Last Man on Earth Returns!, Bill?, Favorite Mutation
Continued...
Movie Night
August 19, 2010 - Matthew Scott
While waiting for DLC news to be announced on Game Trailers TV at 12:30am (PST) this Friday on Spike TV, we thought we would see what the community has been working on. Checking YouTube we found a bunch of cool movies. Here are just a few. Yes, we know some of these may make it a bit cOld in here, but just in case you missed them.
One word of warning, some of these movies use naughty words, have violence in them and well... other things. You have been warned.
Continued...
Week 17
August 12, 2010 - L4D Team
Week 17: Iron Man, Diagnosing Mutations, Bill?
Iron Man
No respawns, no restarts, no ammo, all tension!
Did you vote the Mutations are too easy? Try this one on Expert. Realism rules are in effect. There are no respawns in the map. There is no ammo. If your team wipes, you need to restart the whole campaign.
Continued...
Here's Looking at You
August 12, 2010 - Chet Faliszek
2 Evil Eyes, Summer Sale, and Upcoming DLC.
We are starting a new feature for PC players this week. Bi-weekly community campaigns!
Every two weeks we are going to feature a new community campaign on our servers. We will feature one campaign at a time to make it is easier to find games. We’ll be keeping it featured for two weeks so people can familiarize themselves with the maps for competitive play.
We currently have 120 servers setup around the world with the first featured campaign – 2 Evil Eyes.
For PC users here is how you can join us playing 2 Evil Eyes:
Continued...
Mutation Breakdown
August 5, 2010 - Charlie Burgin
With the first dozen Mutations out we wanted to take a minute and talk about the Mutations.
Overall the Mutations and weekly polls have been a great success and an amazing way for us to get feedback from the community. Don’t worry we still have more Mutations coming and we will also be tweaking and bringing back some of our favorites.
The idea behind the Mutations was simple. Left 4 Dead 2 is played by many different players and types of players. Some players have 300+ hours played in almost daily games and some players only play in weekly casual games with friends. We wanted to create weekly events that mixed up the game rules to experiment with gameplay and made people look at the game in new ways.
Continued...
Week 15
July 30, 2010 - L4D Team
Week 15: Split Vote! If you only had one thing? TANK!
We split in this week’s vote. PC users went with Survival Versus and Xbox 360 users went with Four Swordsmen of the Apocalypse.
Continued...
WEEK 14
July 23, 2010 - L4D Team
Mutation Week 14: Healthpackalypse!, What else are you playing?, Pick Your Mutation, extra updates.
Healthpackalypse!
No health in this versus game.
Grind down the Survivors and don’t worry about them bouncing back. With no Health kits in Versus, their permanent health is on a one way ride to zero.
Continued...
WEEK 13
July 16, 2010 - L4D Team
Mutation Week 13: Hard Eight, What is your favorite Melee Weapon?, What else are you playing?
Hard Eight
Double the specials, quadruple the fun!
Face eight Special Infected at one time, this is double the standard number! And if that wasn’t trouble enough, we also increase the spawning frequency so it is raining Specials.
Continued...
WEEK 12
July 9, 2010 - L4D Team
Four Swordsmen of the Apocalypse, What is your favorite finale? What is your favorite Melee Weapon?
Four Swordsmen of the Apocalypse
Four Swords against plenty of apocalypse!
Armed with only swords the survivors face near continuous streams of Special Infected ready to be sliced and diced.
Continued...
We Might Need a Recount!
June 23, 2010 - L4D Team
Voting is going strong for next week's Encore Mutation Poll.
On the 360 side, Chainsaw Massacre is the runway leader with 43% of the vote. On the PC side, we are quite a bit closer with Headshot! leading with only 33% over Chainsaw Massacre's 32%. This is a close race, so make sure to get your vote in by Thursday night!
Continued...
WEEK 9
June 17, 2010 - L4D Team
Headshot!, This is my Rifle, Pick Your Mutation
Headshot!
The only shot that counts is the one in the head.
Shoot them in the arm, shoot them in the leg, shoot them in the chest - it just doesn't matter! The only way these zombies are going down is with a head shot. Other hits will stumble them back, but only a head shot or decapitation will kill them.
Continued...
WEEK 8
June 11, 2010 - L4D Team
Room For One, Everything Must Go, Favorite Weapon Class
New Mutation
Room For One
Only room for one survivor in this rescue vehicle.
Continued...
WEEK 7
June 4, 2010 - L4D Team
Chainsaw Massacre, Loving the Dark, Is Less More, and Last Video on Earth.
New Mutation
Chainsaw Massacre.
4 chainsaws, millions of zombies.
You are armed with the only thing you need to survive a Zombie Apocalypse, a chainsaw. Rip apart thousands of zombies on your way to safety.
Continued...
Week 6
May 28, 2010 - L4D Team
Last Man On Earth, Special Infected Love, Favorite Campaign, and Last Video on Earth.
Continued...
Week 5
May 21, 2010 - L4D Team
Week 5 of the in game blog: Return of the Gnome and Realism Versus and Pick Your Favorite Infected.
Continued...
Week 4
May 14, 2010 - L4D Team
Week 4 of the in game blog: New Mutation, Angry and Confused, and Pick a Mutation.
New Mutation
Last Gnome On Earth
Protect the gnome at all cost.
Do you crave attention? Want all the infected to swarm you and the gnome you are carrying? Then we have the game mode for you. The team needs to carry the garden gnome from start to finish in any campaign. The common infected hate the gnome and will swarm whoever is carrying him. Watch out putting him on the ground, a boomer explosion will send him flying!
Continued...
Week 3
May 6, 2010 - L4D Team
Week 3 of the in game blog: New Mutation, Landslide Victory!, and what rages you?
New Mutation
Follow the Liter
Scavenge one can at a time.
No more fighting over what cans to grab first. This Mutation spawns only one group of cans at a time, so survivors know exactly where to go. There is only one problem: the Infected know exactly where they are going.
Continued...
Puking and Bleeding Out
April 30, 2010 - L4D Team
This week we introduce a new mutation, reveal poll results, put the game in your hands, have a Boomer sighting, and more!
New Mutation
Bleed Out
Your health is a ticking away!
Continued...
Passed!
April 22, 2010 - L4D Team
"The Passing" is now available on the Xbox 360 and PC!
The first game add-on for Left 4 Dead 2 (L4D2) brings the original Left 4 Dead Survivors down south for a meeting with the L4D2 cast, while delivering new single-player, multiplayer and co-operative gameplay for the PC and Xbox 360.
Continued...
Mutations
April 21, 2010 - L4D Team
The Passing introduces a series of weekly game mode events dubbed "Mutations." These are week-long runs of new gameplay modes that range from "Realism Versus" to "Chainsaw Massacre". Each week one new Mutation is featured and the previous Mutation retired.
Continued...
The Passing, Coming April 22
April 20, 2010 - L4D Team
The first game add-on for Left 4 Dead 2 brings the original Left 4 Dead (L4D1) Survivors down south for a meeting with the L4D2 cast, while delivering new single-player, multiplayer and co-operative gameplay for the PC and Xbox 360.
Continued...
Worlds Collide!
April 16, 2010 - L4D Team
Celebrating the pending release of "The Passing" and the Left 4 Dead 1 and Left 4 Dead 2 teams colliding, we have a few other world colliding events to announce.
Continued...
Passing the Savings on to You
March 23, 2010 - L4D Team
That's right, Internet blog readers! It's tax season here at Valve, and we need to CLEAR OUT our digital warehouses! What does that mean for you? How about the award-winning Left 4 Dead 2, now available for 50% off the original price? (March 23rd to March 25th)
Continued...
12 Terms from the Left 4 Dictionary
March 19, 2010 - Phil Co
While we are finishing up on the new L4D2 DLC "The Passing", we wanted to take a minute and talk about the process we use when designing maps.
But before we jump into that, we also wanted to give you a heads up to Watch Spike TV's GTTV this Friday night (March 19th) for more information on the passing, including the poster tagline.
Continued...
Left 4 Dead 1 and 2 are coming to the Mac!
March 8, 2010 - L4D Team
We like the platform wars in the forums so much that we've decided to add a new platform to the fray. Later this spring, we'll be releasing both Left 4 Dead 1 and 2 on the OSX operating system for Mac computers, all through Steam.
Continued...
Don't worry, we'll make more
February 11, 2010 - L4D Team
In the first two months of Left 4 Dead 2's release, 28,981,249,043 zombies have been shot, bludgeoned, chainsawed and killed — or, for our younger readers, taken to a farm where they can frolic and shuffle around forever.
You read that correctly: 28 BILLION. To put that number in perspective:
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They Live
January 22, 2010 - L4D Team
With our last update having come out a few weeks ago and the next one a few weeks out, we wanted to let people know what we are working on. In addition to "The Passing" DLC, we are working on some other updates coming for both PC and 360. While not a complete list by any means, we wanted to give a heads up on a few Versus changes coming.
Continued...
Turning Silver into Gold
January 12, 2010 - L4D Team
For this weekend only, Microsoft is hosting a free multiplayer weekend for Left 4 Dead 2. What does this mean? You don't need to have an Xbox Live Gold account to access Left 4 Dead 2's multiplayer features. That's right: You will be upgraded from Silver to Gold for free. You can go online alone or with a split-screen friend. This event starts at 5pm GMT Friday, January 15th and ends at 5pm on Sunday the 18th.
Continued...
All I want for Christmas is an SDK
December 23, 2009 - Yasser Malaika
We are releasing the Left 4 Dead 2 Authoring Tools and Left 4 Dead 2 Add-on Support today.
PLAYERS: If you are not looking to design but play custom campaigns all you need to do is install the add-on support package. Just go into steam and open up the Tools tab. Look for the entry labeled Left 4 Dead 2 - Add-on Support click and install it. This download is sizable, but will update your L4D2 installation to allow running ANY map, including custom maps made for the original Left 4 Dead. Once installed, you do not need to run this application, it will always be active.
We will be updating the Left 4 Dead 2 game UI to include links to this package when applicable but for now please just download it directly. If you see any missing textures or models from your favorite map let us know in the forums.
DESIGNERS: Besides also downloading the above file you will need to download the Left 4 Dead 2 - Authoring Tools. Downloading it will add applications, utilities, and example files that are useful for building L4D2 game add-ons. These are similar to the tools released for Left 4 Dead, but include many updates and new features. Among the most useful are:
Gamemode Logic: Designers can now make a single map that can behave differently depending on the gamemode in which it is being played. This can dramatically reduce the file size of Campaign add-ons, as the same map can be used for Co-op, Versus, Scavenge, and Survival.
Director Logic: Maps can now alter their layout and behavior depending on how "angry" the A.I. director is. The better the Survivors are doing, the angrier the AI Director seems to get. This allows you to base variable paths and other events on the player's skill and current conditions.
Scavenge Mode Support! All the elements map authors need to support Scavenge in their maps. This includes game props as well as a full example in the form of Deadline 2, an updated tutorial campaign.
We have included an updated tutorial to help you get going and as always you can join the discussion on the map designer email list. What we want for New Years is to get to play your custom maps in Left 4 Dead 2.
For the best user experience and to take advantage of the new map and nav mesh formats, Left 4 Dead 1 Map Makers will want to compile Left 4 Dead 2 specific versions of their map in the new tool.
Happy Holidays,
The Left 4 Dead 2 Team
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Massive 360 Server Upgrade
November 25, 2009 - L4D Team
We have upgraded our network infrastructure to better accommodate the huge response to L4D2. 360 players will now have lag-free servers. We've also added more dedicated servers.
We will continue to monitor the situation and add resources as needed.
Thank you for your patience. Now quit reading this, get out there and kill some zombies!
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Left 4 Dead 2 Nabs Six VGA Nominations
November 18, 2009 - L4D Team
Spike TV just posted their nominees for the 2009 Video Game Awards, and we're proud to announce that Left 4 Dead 2 is up for six awards—Game of the Year, Studio of the Year, Best Xbox 360 Game, Best PC Game, Best Shooter and Best Multiplayer Game. If you've been enjoying L4D2 this week, don't forget to drop into Spike's onine voting center and give us some love!
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An Update for all you Zombie Killers in the UK
November 17, 2009 - L4D Team
Due to high demand for L4D2, we decided to move various street dates forward for a coordinated worldwide release—except in the UK, where this was not possible (copies of the game are still arriving).
The good news is that we plan to have everyone in the UK playing Left 4 Dead 2 by Friday morning. Those who pre-ordered in the UK before the worldwide launch have been given access to the game.
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Left 4 Dead 2 is live on Steam!
November 16, 2009 - L4D Team
The PC version of Left 4 Dead 2, the sequel to the best-selling and critically-acclaimed co-operative multiplayer thriller, is now available via Steam to gamers around the globe. The title will be available for the PC and Xbox 360 at retail stores on Tuesday, November 17th in North America, and worldwide throughout the week. For more information, please visit www.steamgames.com.
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Our Contest Winners, and L4D2's New Special Infected
November 16, 2009 - L4D Team
The "Dude, Where's My Thumb?" contest is officially closed. Congratulations to contest winner Roland Nagy, who just won himself an extremely limited edition (i.e. one) customized "infected" Xbox 360 for his entry below:
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Get Free Wallpaper, Turn Yourself into a Zombie, and Win an Xbox
November 12, 2009 - L4D Team
During the production of a game, a lot of concept art gets drawn up, redrawn, thrown away, cursed at, and, occasionally, even used. There's a mountain of this stuff fluttering around the Valve offices, and while the non-artists among us might not know much (anything) about art, we hope we're not embarrassing our artists by saying it looks pretty kickass. So we grabbed some of it off the nearest pile and made it into desktop wallpaper:
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L4D2's "Dude, Where's My Thumb 2" Contest
November 10, 2009 - L4D Team
For our Left 4 Dead 1 contest giveaway, we gave all you gamers a simple proposition: take a picture of yourself or a friend doing something creative in front of a L4D ad. We were blown away by the inventiveness, humor, and photoshop mastery of some of the replies.
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Left 4 Dead 2 TV Spot #2 Hits the Airwaves
November 4, 2009 - L4D Team
Starting today, L4D2's second television spot (watch the first here)—drops on TV channels across North America. It's packed with explosions, jets, the song "Electric Worry" by Clutch, and hard-hitting action courtesy of our four Survivors Coach, Rochelle, Nick and Ellis.
Oh, and zombies.
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The L4D2 Demo is Live!
November 4, 2009 - L4D Team
The Left 4 Dead 2 demo is live and available for download on Xbox 360 and PC. Featuring gameplay from the first two (of five) chapters from "The Parish" campaign, the demo is set in the New Orleans French Quarter and is playable in Campaign mode. Keep an eye out for all-new guns, melee weapons, items, Special Infected and "Uncommon Common," a new campaign-specific set of zombies with unique abilities.
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Pre-Order Giveaway Madness!
November 2, 2009 - L4D Team
Those of you who pre-ordered Left 4 Dead 2 (for PC on Steam or at participating retailers) now have exclusive access to the momentous event they said would never happen. For the first time in history, two separate Valve universes collide. That's right: it's a Left 4 Dead/Team Fortress crossover! This is not fan fiction! This is not a dream sequence! The characters from Team Fortress 2 will team-up with Bill's hat from Left 4 Dead 1!
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We're back!
October 13, 2009 - Erik Johnson
As many of you might have heard, Gabe and I went to Australia last week to try out the Source MOD made by Joe W-A, after he was able to raise the funds for the $3000 plane ticket in less than 48 hours.
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Warning!!! Zombies Invade Tokyo and London!
October 2, 2009 - Chet Faliszek
We just had a great showing at the Tokyo Game Show. One of Left 4 Dead 2’s level designers, Kim Swift made the trip. You can check out her multi-language interview here.
Next public showing will be at the London Game Show where we will be showing the as of yet unannounced new game mode. We really should announce that soon… We can give you one hint, the game is 4 v 4. So get your team together and join us in London on October 29th or 30th.
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I Hate Helicopters
September 29, 2009 - Chet Faliszek
Crash Course DLC is here! Find out what happens to Bill, Zoey, Louis, and Francis after their rooftop helicopter rescue in the No Mercy campaign. To celebrate the release of our second DLC for Left 4 Dead, we are offering Left 4 Dead for 50% off until Oct 2nd.
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Left 4 Dead 2 Summer Tour Continues
August 27, 2009 - Chet Faliszek
Next Stop: Penny Arcade Expo
We will be unveiling Dark Carnival at the Penny Arcade Expo in Seattle September 4-6.
Dark Carnival is the third of five campaigns we have revealed. It is the second campaign of the game and picks up after you have escaped from Savannah.
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Left 4 Dead 2's Zombies Invade Gametrailers TV at 12:30am on SPIKE!
August 13, 2009 - L4D Team
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Left 4 Dead 2 Summer Tour Begins
July 31, 2009 - Andrea Wicklund, Arsenio Navarro and Adrian Finol
First Stop: Comic Con
During the San Diego Comic Con gamers had an opportunity to visit us in our Left 4 Dead 2 room and try out two L4D2 levels from the "Swamp Fever" campaign. The response was overwhelming, with lines going out the door well before we opened. Throughout the four days that the demo was made available, there was never an empty seat.
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Get your Campaign On
June 19, 2009 - Yasser Malaika
We're pretty excited about this next Left 4 Dead update, and we hope you will be as well. Since the Left 4 Dead Authoring Tools Beta was released several weeks ago, mod authors have been cooking with gas, so to speak. The ranks of dedicated community members working hard to create new content have been swelling, and a very hungry horde awaits...
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Rules of Thumb
June 15, 2009 - L4D Team
When it came time to photograph the box art of L4D1, our art staff had three goals. One, there should be a hand in it somehow. Two, the hand should have a thumb bitten off, so customers would look at the four fingers remaining on the hand and think, "Hey, four." Three, under no circumstances would we use Photoshop. L4D is a visceral experience, and its box art deserved the same approach. Valve artist and L4D1 hand model Andrea Wicklund was more than happy to help.
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Announcing Left 4 Dead 2!
June 1, 2009 - L4D Team
We've just announced that Left 4 Dead 2 is coming later this year! It's a much larger game than the original, and features new co-op and versus campaigns, all-new Survivors, boss zombies, weapons, and items, as well as melee combat. Check out the teaser trailer, and watch this space for more news in the coming days.
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Now Hiring!
May 19, 2009 - Zoid
It's been an interesting week for us here on the Left 4 Dead team. This Monday, for instance, somebody accidentally told Robin Walker he had the power to fire people. In other interesting news, the Left 4 Dead team has all been fired.
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A Subtle Hint
May 19, 2009 - L4D Team
The 27th Annual Golden Joystick Awards are now accepting votes for your favorite game of the year. Now, we'd of course never for a second want to sway your vote and suggest you follow this link and vote for Left 4 Dead. We're above that sort of thing.
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Personalize your apocalypse
May 15, 2009 - Yasser Malaika
Today we are opening the beta of the Left 4 Dead Authoring Tools to the public. It is available as a free download for all owners of the PC version of Left 4 Dead, and can be found under the "Tools" tab in Steam.
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Left 4 Dead, by the Numbers
April 30, 2009 - Charlie Burgin
Valve has always seen the value in gathering real-world gameplay data and using it to improve our products. Now we're hoping you'll find it as useful as we do. With the creation of the L4D stats page, our customers will now be able to see a wide variety of gameplay data across all of Left 4 Dead's various game modes.
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DLC Released! New L4D swag at The Valve Store.
April 22, 2009 - L4D Team
We just released the DLC on the PC and 360. This includes the new Survival Mode, The Lighthouse Survival map, and 2 new Versus campaigns. To celebrate the release of the DLC we have cooked up a few items for the Valve Store.
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Surviving the L4D Survival Pack
April 16, 2009 - Kerry Davis and Scott Dalton
Survival Mode pits your team against never ending waves of infected. Sounds simple. Just trap the survivors in a small part of a map, unleash the hordes, and record the longest time. Survival Mode, which will be released next week, is actually a bit more than that.
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Lose the Thumb: Creating Left 4 Dead's Box Art
April 9, 2009 - Jeremy Bennett
Hello. My name is Jeremy Bennett, and I'm an artist at Valve. Most gamers only ever get to see the finished product of a game cover, so we thought some of you might find it interesting to hear the process that led to Left 4 Dead's final art. As you'll see, there were quite a few attempts along the way, all of them eventually abandoned.
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A Match Made In Zombie Heaven
April 1, 2009 - Zoid
In a recent update for L4D on the PC, we provided the option for players to choose between starting a game on an Official server or the Best Available. This is just the first step in giving players control over what servers they play on and the type of experience they have.
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Building a Better Apocalypse
March 25, 2009 - Chet Faliszek
We recently updated the PC version of Left 4 Dead with some exploit fixes and Versus balancing. We are going to be releasing another small update shortly that contains some server issue fixes and one small, but very large, gameplay adjustment. We have made a change to the melee mechanic in Versus and the soon-to-be-released Survival Mode.
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Game of the Year
January 8, 2009 - L4D Team
With 2008 behind us, the gaming press has once again sorted through the year's releases and made up their annual lists for Game of the Year. Find out how Left 4 Dead ranks with IGN, GameSpot, GameSpy, 1UP, Onion AV Club, Destructoid, Kotaku, Team XBOX and more by clicking here.
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L4D Art Direction, Part 2: Stylized Darkness
January 2, 2009 - Randy Lundeen
Aesthetics, fiction and gameplay: these are three criteria that we always consider when employing a new art direction for a game. With a game as dark as Left 4 Dead, this meant having to figure out a lot of new ways to use the absence of light to our advantage.
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The Moviemaking Process: Left 4 Dead's Intro Movie
December 4, 2008 - Jason Mitchell
Because Left 4 Dead is a new property for us, we wanted to provide some basic player training prior to the start of the game. Traditional in-game training mechanics didn't make sense for Left 4 Dead, because they would take away from the sense that players had been immediately dropped into a very real, very dire zombie apocalypse.
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Play Left 4 Dead with Valve
November 20, 2008 - L4D Team
Join Left 4 Dead’s developers for a few campaigns against the zombie horde this Saturday, November 22 at 9:00 pm (EST). All you have to do is send off a game invite to one of the gamertags listed below. See you there!
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L4D Roundup: Contest Results, Great Deals and Early Reviews
November 18, 2008 - L4D Team
Our "Dude, Where's My Thumb?" contest finishes today. We asked hopefuls in the US and UK to submit a picture of themselves in front of a Left 4 Dead billboard for a chance to win prizes. Gabe Newell's looked through all the entries and selected 25 lucky winners
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Left 4 Dead is live on Steam
November 18, 2008 - L4D Team
As of midnight EST, the PC version of Left 4 Dead, Valve's zombie thriller, is now available via Steam to gamers around the globe. The title will be available for the PC and Xbox 360 at retail stores on Tuesday, November 18 in North America, and worldwide on Friday, November 21. For more information, please visit www.steamgames.com.
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Update, 5:24 pm
November 17, 2008 - L4D Team
Good news on the Valve Launch Box test run! There was an electrical fire, and all the bees burned to death. The bad news: several employees also perished in the fire and the game will be delayed. Just kidding! About the game. There were some burning deaths. But the game's coming out!
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The End is Near...
November 17, 2008 - L4D Team
Less than four hours to go until Left 4 Dead goes live at the stroke of midnight (EST) on Steam, and that means the Valve Launch Box will be dragged out of its off-season home in Gabe Newell's tool shed.
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Downloadable L4D Desktop Wallpaper
November 14, 2008 - L4D Team
We were going to title this post "Infect Your Desktop!" until someone remembered what a bad idea it is to put those words together in conjunction with free downloads. Our back-up title, "Put These Pictures on Your Computer," wasn't nearly as clever, so we'll just quit while we're ahead and let you download the wallpaper.
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Download the Left 4 Dead Demo!
November 11, 2008 - L4D Team
Left 4 Dead is finally here! Well, almost, anyway. The full game won’t be available for another week (November 18 on Steam and in retail stores across America). But you can get a taste of the blood-splattering, zombie-killing fun right now!
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L4D Art Direction, Part 1: Filmic Effects
November 10, 2008 - Randy Lundeen
One of the goals of Left 4 Dead's art direction was to capture the tone and feel of being right in the middle of a horror movie. This meant making the environments look scary in a specifically cinematic way.
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Left 4 Dead Intro Movie
October 31, 2008 - L4D Team
Less than a week from today, everyone who pre-ordered will be playing the Left 4 Dead demo. We know! We can't believe it either. To make the wait easier, we've released the five minute movie that opens the game. Caution: The movie may actually make the wait harder. Anyway, happy Halloween.
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It's the Zombie Ad-pocalypse.
October 30, 2008 - L4D Team
As part of our ongoing marketing campaign, we're airing a pair of commercials on network and cable television, including ABC, FOX, Spike, ESPN, MTV, Comedy Central, CBC and more. Created with footage from Left 4 Dead's opening sequence, the commercial goes live on television November 8th. But you can watch it online now!
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Dude, Where's My Thumb?
October 28, 2008 - L4D Team
Want to win a free copy of Left 4 Dead? How about a new gaming PC? All it takes is a snapshot of you in front of a Left 4 Dead billboard, bus, Jumbotron or other piece of outdoor advertising. So fire up your Leica and get over to the official contest page.
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Sunday! Sunday! Sunday!
October 25, 2008 - L4D Team
Hot off of solving the global credit crisis, world leaders have turned to more important matters. They have declared this Sunday October 26th, World Zombie Day. What better way to celebrate World Zombie Day than dress up like a zombie and shamble around?
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A Contest so Easy, Even a Zombie Could Win.
October 18, 2008 - L4D Team
The guys over at Left4Dead411.com just launched a new contest today with the grand prize being four copies of Left 4 Dead. The contest is all about getting your picture taken in front of a horde of zombies.
Where can you find a horde before November 18th? Left4Dead411 has plenty of tips. Just please remember to respect the native zombies, they get hungry for brains if you anger them.
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The Left 4 Dead Pre-Purchase Infection is Now On!
October 15, 2008 - L4D Team
Left 4 Dead is now available for pre-purchase worldwide via Steam! As with our pre-purchase promotions for retail PC and Xbox 360, customers who pre-purchase Left 4 Dead via Steam will save 10% off the regular price. Left 4 Dead will be released at retail on PC and Xbox 360 on November 18 in North America and November 21 in Europe. The worldwide Steam release will be November 18.
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Left 4 Dead Spreads Around the World
October 10, 2008 - ?
In Germany, lucky members of the press were able to play co-op with Gabe Newell at the Leipzig Games Convention, while Torsten Zabka manned the L4D tour bus outside.
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Legoland of the Dead
October 3, 2008 - Erik Wolpaw
This weekend, expert Lego Builders from all over the world will convene in the Seattle Center Exhibition Hall for BrickCon 2008.
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First post - Welcome to the L4D blog
September 30, 2008 - Mike Booth
Since we announced Left 4 Dead in late 2006, the growing online community has been a great source of feedback and support during the development process. We're planning on using this blog to talk more directly with that community - through stories, artwork, and insights into our design and development process.
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