Bad news, Left 4 Dead fans. It turns out that the rumours regarding Left 4 Dead 3 being back in development as a VR game weren't quite as accurate as we might have hoped. Following the reports, Valve issued a statement to IGN explaining that the studio is "absolutely" not working on a new entry in the zombie co-op shooter, and hasn't been for years.
This is bound to come as quite a blow to a number of fans who thought a long-overdue Left 4 Dead revival was finally on the cards. Excitement reached fever pitch when YouTube channel and fansite Valve News Network claimed that Left 4 Dead 3 was real, and that development on the project was being started up again, following the massively positive reaction to Half-Life: Alyx late last year.
"We've seen rumors to this effect for the last couple of months," Valve said in its 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. 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."
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Valve News Network did also claim that work on Left 4 Dead 3 first started in 2011/2012, before being abandoned in 2017. Based on Valve's statement it would seem that there's potentially some truth in that, at least. It's nice to know that there are ideas for the game lying around somewhere that could be picked up one day... even it is a little hard to hear that Valve hasn't been working on Left 4 Dead for years.
We know that Half-Life: Alyx is intended to be the start of a massive push towards virtual reality on Valve's part, with two more mystery VR titles also in development at the studio. Based on Valve's most recent statement, it would seem we can finally rule out a new Left 4 Dead as one of those games.
While that's obviously a little disappointing, it does at least potentially make a Portal VR game all the more likely. I mean, let's be honest, a VR Portal would be way better than a VR Left 4 Dead, wouldn't it? And just because Valve isn't working on Left 4 Dead 3 right now, doesn't mean it will never return to the franchise, right? I certainly wouldn't bet against it.
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Hell, if Half-Life can make a return as a flagship VR game after all these years, then anything can happen.
Featured Image Credit: Valve