Who do you think you are?

I just wanted to write a quick thing about Left 4 Dead 2. I know this isn't news, nor is what I'm going to say particularly original, but I still think it merits saying anyway.

So the first (stellar) Left 4 Dead game came out late last year. It's only really had one bit of DLC so far, the impressive Survival Pack, which added some very fun new content to an already immensely fun game. And naturally, given Valve's past tendency to release new content for its online games, especially TF2, people expect the same for Left 4 Dead. Which is a reasonable assumption, I guess. But then, Valve announced a separate sequel, and the internet very nearly collapsed inward under the weight of fanboy griping. It's to those moaners I'd like to address this next paragraph:

What the hell? Since when was L4D a subscription-based game? It's not, and that means you're not entitled to continued updates, certainly not in the form of extra content. We've had Survival, which as I said above is an excellent addon to a brilliant game – a game you chose to pay £30 or whatever for because it was a great game. It's pretty unreasonable to assume that you can pay not very much money for a game which will double in size in a year or two – free DLC is the icing on the cake, not the cake itself. Nobody promised you anything, certainly not Valve, and they definitely don't owe you more free stuff.

I firmly believe Left 4 Dead 1 will continue to receive more content – possibly even some bits from the sequel, since they're technologically identical. The team responsible has bucked the industry trend and actually grown since release – and I'm sure a handful of the original team will be staying back on the first game to continue support.

Personally I think we should be grateful for every day they keep the official L4D servers open. Will I be buying the sequel when it lands this November? I certainly will. I also fully expect to continue to play the first game for many years to come, with or without any additional maps. But frankly, the game has already been great value for me. Anything else is icing.



One Response to “Who do you think you are?”

1. Shinola says:

   09/07/2009 at 1:55 pm

   the REAL reason they shouldn't make a sequel is i havn't played the first one yet