The lesson here is: never get your hopes up
It’s become a tired joke these days to make fun of Valve for never making a “threequel.” But it’s hard to get away from such a meme when the topic keeps cropping up, as is the case forLeft 4 Dead 3. Back in March, there were leaks saying that athird entry in the zombie co-op FPScould be in the pipeline. However, that’s unlikely to be the case, based on what former Valve writer Chet Faliszek said recently.
While he didn’t actually say that a newLeft 4 Deadgame would never come to fruition (though that’s ultimately not his decision), the leaks that got everyone excited are probably nothing to get too worked up about. According to Faliszek, who was speaking on theVŌC Podcastthis past weekend, these leaked bits and bobs were most likely assets fromL4D. He said that they often used the game as a “test bed,” particularly during the development of the Source 2 engine, so the leaks are probably not brand-new content.
The bit on theLeft 4 Deadleaks begins around the 28:40 mark.
When asked about it by the podcast’s host Ronald, Faliszek says he was not aware of any leak, but said that the team used to useLeft 4 Deadas it’s a “good base to try things on,” particularly it’s a multiplayer and co-op aspects. He adds that it was where they also tested the “Squirrel language” that was used for the dialog in the firstPortalgame.
Responsible for some of Valve’s best writing
Faliszek joined Valve in 2005 as a writer, contributing to bothHalf-Life 2episode expansions, as well asPortal, before working onLeft 4 Dead.He eventually left Valve in 2017to work on projects for the London-based studio Bossa, which developed and published theSurgeon SimulatorandI Am Breadgames.
In short, the leaks from March were almost certainly not in reference toLeft 4 Dead 3. As far as we can tell, there isn’t a third game in development, and it’s hard to ascertain whether one will ever see the light of day. Still, it doesn’t stop people fromdreaming of a newL4Dinstallment.
