Image courtesy of Valve
It’s been more than 10 years since Left 4 Dead 2, yet another series that would have made for a natural sequel at some point. But Valve, being Valve, hasn’t touched Left 4 Dead in more than 10 years, and according to a statement released to IGN, that’s not gonna change.“We’ve seen rumors to this effect for the last couple of months,” said the studio in a statement. “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."A couple of things. One, there have been rumors—legitimate rumors—about a new Left 4 Dead for years, with data miners finding evidence of development work in various code releases. This statement confirms that, at one point or another, Valve really was investigating whether to make another Left 4 Dead. And while it’s entirely possible Valve is boldface lying, hoping to keep the world’s attention on their upcoming Half-Life VR game, it’s also possible we should just take Valve at their word.For the moment, there’s no Left 4 Dead 3 coming.That said, the original developers of Left 4 Dead, Turtle Rock Studios, have announced a spiritual successor to the zombie series, Back 4 Blood. We haven’t seen Back 4 Blood yet, but like so many things, in Valve’s absence, others rise up to create the things they will not.Follow Patrick on Twitter. His email is patrick.klepek@vice.com, and available privately on Signal (224-707-1561).