In a new series of confirmations, Valve has dashed the hopes of zombie fans. The company issued a statement this week following reports circulating about a new Left4Dead VR title. The title had not been officially confirmed, but the source for the speculation seemed credible to the uncritical eye. The source was HTC China’s President, the head of one of the divisions of the company behind the Vive headset, so it seemed reasonable that he might be acting on privileged knowledge. Turns out that was not the case.
These condemnations come after various sources suggested that Valve was working behind-the-scenes on a new game in the Left4Dead franchise. President of HTC China, Alvin Wang Graylin, kicked off the rumors after giving a presentation during the GoldenV Game Awards this week. Within this presentation there were mentions of future titles within the VR space. One of the speculated titles was a potential Left4Dead 3.
The statement, which was received by IGN, concludes that the idea of a sequel has been caused by the spread of “misinformation.” The statement concludes, “We did briefly explore some Left 4 Dead next-gen opportunities a few years ago. But we are absolutely not working on anything L4D related now, and haven’t for years.
“It’s clear some people are having fun creating misinformation to spin up the community and other outlets. Unfortunately, for now, a new L4D game is not something we’re working on.”
The company isn’t working on a new game in the zombie co-op franchise after all. Surely fans will be disappointed by the news, but it is what it is. Left4Dead is a very recognizable and beloved franchise. The challenge presented by the AI Director became legendary in the marketing for the original game, and the impressive zombie hordes were not the only selling point. The engrossing story and interesting gunplay also helped propel the game to new heights, and it continues even years after release to be a favorite among genre fans.
For his part, Graylin apologized later saying, “As a huge fan of Valve & their properties, I was giving example that titles like HL Alyx/Left 4 Dead could be the types of titles that would really move the needle in consumer VR. This was just speculation on my part. I apologize to fans who may have mistook this as confirmation.”
