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Left 4 Dead 2 cover art changed to appease ESRB photo

It's not just raging Steam boycotters that Valve has upset with the announcement of Left 4 Dead 2. According to the studio, the ESRB has also shown concern, causing Valve to edit the original cover art for the game which showed a hand with a thumb and two fingers chewed off. In order to satiate the demands of the censors, the famous Left 4 Dead hand will now be holding down two fingers, rather than having them torn from the palm. 

Strangley, the ESRB has never had a problem with the chewed-off thumb, allowing it both for the original game's cover and for Left 4 Dead 2. It seems that anything more than a thumb is too extreme, leading to the new image found in our gallery. Fortunately, this is as far as the edits go, with the rest of the game deemed perfectly acceptable for human consumption worldwide.

This is great news for the five people who are yet to boycot the game. 

 

 

 


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39 comments | showing # 1 to 39

Kif 's Avatar
Kif at 06/17/2009 12:22
I never noticed that covered was flicking the Vs before.
SadCheese's Avatar
SadCheese at 06/17/2009 12:26
ThunderHeartXI's Avatar
ThunderHeartXI at 06/17/2009 12:26
This just proves that the ESRB is run by monkeys.
Tristero's Avatar
Tristero at 06/17/2009 12:28
Sneaky Valve with their covert art and camouflaged messages.
RAB's Avatar
RAB at 06/17/2009 12:30
That's fucking retarded. There are plenty of games with incredibly mutilated zombies on the covers and nobody has made a peep.
Fuck humanity.
falinter's Avatar
falinter at 06/17/2009 12:32
Us 5 non-boycotters should start a boycott of the boycott.
WarZombie's Avatar
WarZombie at 06/17/2009 12:33
Forget the rest of the game, you know, the dismembering and blood everywhere and the cursing and stuff. No, we have to change the cover because it might offend someone.

This is fucking ridiculous.
Neonie's Avatar
Neonie at 06/17/2009 12:33
I'm already boycotting the boycott. Won't go near the thing.
Magnalon's Avatar
Magnalon at 06/17/2009 12:33
Hey, it's Chet! That dude is totally amazing: one of our "4" left our game presentation early, and he came over and asked us "can I kill some zombies with you dudes?" while telling us the nuances of the game.
lawrencek's Avatar
lawrencek at 06/17/2009 12:37
I don't exactly understand how the ERSB works in this situation, but would there be any way Valve would be allowed to release the original cover at a later date to people who purchased the game, or something like that? Or would it not make much sense in the end? Just curious!
JoZo's Avatar
JoZo at 06/17/2009 12:40
Their just scared that they might take off all of em except the middle finger when the third game hits.
CocoJambo's Avatar
CocoJambo at 06/17/2009 12:40
I still think the cover is not as good as the first one, it doesn't follow the same pattern.
slackermonkey's Avatar
slackermonkey at 06/17/2009 12:44
LAME! Valve should pull an Okami and send out replacement covers for free
ghets's Avatar
ghets at 06/17/2009 12:47
They should do something different. Seems kind of lazy to use the same cover and just photoshop out 2 fingers. Also, wasnt the 4 fingers supposed to represent the 4 survivors. If they keep following this cover logic what the hell are they gonna do when they make Left 4 Dead 4??? THEYRE DOING IT ALL WRONG!
Dexter345's Avatar
Dexter345 at 06/17/2009 12:56
What. Since when does the ESRB even have the power to do this? Granted, I can see why you wouldn't want, say, a bulging vulva on the cover for a game, but we can't have three chewed off fingers for an M rated game, though we can have one? How does that make any sort of sense?
ZombiePlatypus's Avatar
ZombiePlatypus at 06/17/2009 12:57
Well, censorship sucks and all, but this does seem to fit better. A "dead" left hand with four fingers remaining, holding two of those fingers up. Left 4 Dead 2. If two fingers were missing along with the thumb the sight gag wouldn't work anymore.
Zippyduda's Avatar
Zippyduda at 06/17/2009 12:57
That covers horrible it looks like it's kind of saying peace now. As before it looked like a proper zombie hand.

Fuck the system lol
Havoc Fang's Avatar
Havoc Fang at 06/17/2009 12:58
CENSAWSHIP.
Shadowiii's Avatar
Shadowiii at 06/17/2009 12:58
It's like how they censored the Saw 2 movie poster because it had two removed fingers.
The Germany Left 4 Dead box art is hilarious though. It's...just a hand. A normal hand, holding up 4 fingers. Wow.
( http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/kotaku/2008/10/left4deadgermany.jpg )
GoldenGamerXero's Avatar
GoldenGamerXero at 06/17/2009 13:03
Who else didn't realise that until they pointed it out!
eternalplayer2345's Avatar
eternalplayer2345 at 06/17/2009 13:22
I think valve should have a plastic slip case over the game so when you remove it the two fingers are ripped off.
DanGale's Avatar
DanGale at 06/17/2009 13:41
I clicked here thinking it would a hilarious story about how the ESRB are upset that the cover art is telling us all to fuck off. But chewed off digits? Seriously?
Logo's Avatar
Logo at 06/17/2009 13:41
It's lame that the ESRB is coming down on something so tame.

On the other hand I like the newer cover more. 2 fingers made no sense to me as it broke a lot of what the original cover stood for. The new one actually has more 'meaning' to it as it keeps the idea of 4 fingers -> 4 players L4D while still showing off the 2.
momomo66's Avatar
momomo66 at 06/17/2009 14:02
Bwahaha... now it's just being rude to our UK friends. Hilarious. Good work, ESRB.
Dimly's Avatar
Dimly at 06/17/2009 14:06
@Magnalon

I remember that! That was awesome. He was a very cool guy. And also very good at L4D2

Regarding the cover. I've seen move covers trillions times more distrubing than a hand with some missing fingers. What gives?
Trevor McGee's Avatar
Trevor McGee at 06/17/2009 14:09
So the guy just died give the peace sign? O_o

Sorry dude, but zombies don't come in peace. Guess he learned that the hard way though, huh? Fucking hippies.
CRAZYAPE69's Avatar
CRAZYAPE69 at 06/17/2009 14:30
@ RAB, it's not the gore factor, its the fact that it looks like it's flipping the v.
Logo's Avatar
Logo at 06/17/2009 16:04
@CRAZYAPE69 It still looks like he is.
@Trevor It's only the peace sign if the palm is facing the person you are giving it to. The other way around it has a different meaning in parts of the world.
Kyousuke Nanbu's Avatar
Kyousuke Nanbu at 06/17/2009 16:04
I like how you can't go a single L4D article without making fun of the boycotters, real matu...

Oops, forgot who I was talking to, MY BAD.
AgentMOO's Avatar
AgentMOO at 06/17/2009 16:22
Yay arbitrary censorship!
DaedHead8's Avatar
DaedHead8 at 06/17/2009 17:29
That's pretty lame but at least the actual game isn't being censored in anyway.
The-Excel's Avatar
The-Excel at 06/17/2009 18:34
I don't like either design. Were it me, I would have tossed a second four-fingered hand atop the original one. More visceral, I think.
Johnny Justice's Avatar
Johnny Justice at 06/17/2009 20:21
My only slight gripe is how lazy the cover design is.

Wouldn't this make it more offensive in the UK? It's pulling the fingers now.
Grandmas Boy's Avatar
Grandmas Boy at 06/17/2009 21:59
Lame
Sharpless's Avatar
Sharpless at 06/18/2009 02:10
It doesn't really matter, but it is odd. The thumb is okay, then? Wha?
Timstuff's Avatar
Timstuff at 06/18/2009 02:46
So a corny cover is now even cornier. Dandy!
Br0th3rGr1mm's Avatar
Br0th3rGr1mm at 06/19/2009 10:03
So a missing thumb is ok, but chewed off pinkys and ring fingers are an issue? Ok. Well as long as the line is clearly defined...
TheDreadHawk's Avatar
TheDreadHawk at 06/19/2009 15:55
There should be two hands grabbing one another, to signify that it's "two". Duh.
Crayonmuncher's Avatar
Crayonmuncher at 07/01/2009 20:19
I couldnt care less about the cover... I just wanna play =)
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