Left 4 Dead 2 was among the biggest surprises of E3 2009. Sure, it had been rumored, as we covered, but the money was on that being false. Valve has long been known as a company willing to support their games long term. Since Left 4 Dead just came out 6 months ago, and has a DLC pack just over a month old, why announce and release a sequel so soon?
Joystiq asked this very question to Valve guru Chet Faliszek. His answers are thought provoking.
"Left 4 Dead 1, like I said, had some of those fundamental things that we wanted to change about it, like the changes to the director, which took really long periods of time and a really long period of testing," he said. "And so, those changes fell in line with the long period of time it takes to create characters and everything else. That's why we're doing Left 4 Dead 2, right?"
Faliszek went on to explain that Left 4 Dead 2 is more of a platform than a new game, and will be heavily supported with updates and new DLC. Considering that Left 4 Dead was our Game of the Year for 2008, we can't say we aren't excited about the news of a sequel. But much as we love zombie killing, we'd hate to see Left 4 Dead '10: All-Play Edition next year.