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 for Left 4 Dead 3. Back in March, there were leaks saying that a third entry in the zombie co-op FPS could 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 new Left 4 Dead game 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 the VÅŒC Podcast this past weekend, these leaked bits and bobs were most likely assets from L4D. 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 the Left 4 Dead leaks 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 use Left 4 Dead as 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 first Portal game.
Responsible for some of Valve’s best writing
Faliszek joined Valve in 2005 as a writer, contributing to both Half-Life 2 episode expansions, as well as Portal, before working on Left 4 Dead. He eventually left Valve in 2017 to work on projects for the London-based studio Bossa, which developed and published the Surgeon Simulator and I Am Bread games.
In short, the leaks from March were almost certainly not in reference to Left 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 from dreaming of a new L4D installment.
