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Valve has released a statement after finding itself on the receiving end of a 25,000-member strong online petition criticising its decision to develop Left 4 Dead 2 so soon after releasing the original.
The Left 4 Dead 2 Boycott Group on Steam, Valve’s online games portal and community service, has been gathering support ever since the beginning of July when Valve announced at E3 it is developing Left 4 Dead 2.
The group states that Left 4 Dead 2 “does not warrant a stand-alone, full-priced sequel and should instead become updates (free or otherwise) for Left 4 Dead.” It adds that the original Left 4 Dead has not enjoyed “the support and content which Valve has repeatedly stated will be delivered”.
Valve founder Gabe Newell has responded to the accusations by assuring it will still be supporting the original title.
“Doing a sequel in one year is new for Valve,” said Newell in a written statement published on news site Kotaku. “But providing ongoing support for our titles after the initial launch isn’t – it has been part of our philosophy since Half-Life was released ten and half years ago.”
“We see no reason to change that and will continue to support the over three million customers in the L4D community,” he added.
Newell said that Left 4 Dead 2, like any upcoming title, requires an appearance at E3, though he pledged that the company will continue to support the original game with continued updates.
He added that this is not a change of plan, as the company was always set to provide support for the original.
"In addition to the recently released Survival Pack, we are releasing authoring tools for Mod makers, community matchmaking, 4×4 matchmaking, and more new content during the coming months for L4D1," added Newell.
