Fans of the zombie slayer Left 4 Dead games (myself included!) have long been clamoring for a third installment to make its way onto the Steam store much like our Half-Life brothers and sisters. However, Valve have responded recently by shutting down rumors of any Left 4 Dead 3 game being in development.
With the success of 2008’s Left 4 Dead and 2009’s Left 4 Dead 2, gamers did not expect to be waiting long for Left 4 Dead 3 to come to light. However, the game which was reportedly in development in 2011 or 2012, was canceled in 2017. Recent rumors gave the fanbase a glimmer of hope though. YouTube channel Valve News Network claimed that it acquired concept art for Left 4 Dead 3 that was drawn in 2012, which you can see in the video below.
Valve News Network also claimed that the positive reception to Half-Life: Alyx changed Valve’s plans for virtual reality, which hinted that the next Left 4 Dead game may be a VR version. That speculation was then supported by a presentation uploaded to Twitter by Alvin Wang Graylin, president of HTC Vive in China.
On the 2020 VR Trends slide, you can see a bullet point which says “Valve HL Alyx/L4D3 will drive consumer and AAA studio interest.” This was viewed as confirmation that Left 4 Dead 3 was in the works and we all rejoiced in zombie slaying glory. However, such joy didn't last too long. In a statement to IGN, Valve shot down all rumors that it was working on a new Left 4 Dead game.
Come on Valve, you know you want to.
