Is Left 4 Dead 3 Cancelled?

After the massive success of Left 4 Dead games, fans were naturally expecting the next game in the franchise, only to never hear about any details or announcements. If you are a fan of zombie shooters and are waiting for Left 4 Dead 3 with bated breath, here’s everything you need to know about a potential release date (or the lack of it).

Is Left 4 Dead 3 coming out?

Source: Valve

At the time of writing, Left 4 Dead 3 is not officially confirmed to be in development or have a release date. There have been rumors and speculation about the game for years, but Valve, the developer, has remained tight-lipped on the matter.

Left 4 Dead was released in November 2008 and Left 4 Dead 2 was released a year later. The franchise has been relatively quiet since then. Now, it’s been too long since the last game and it is widely assumed that the series has been abandoned. However, this doesn’t mean that the doors are slammed shut – there could be a revival in the future if Valve decides to take it up again. This wholly depends on where the company is focusing and if the series becomes a priority again.

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Chet Faliszek (video game writer) said in 2012 that “like Valve’s other games, a sequel had not been ruled out.” There were murmurs of Left 4 Dead 3 releasing in 2017 but that never happened, even as a surprise drop.

In April 2019, it was reported that Left 4 Dead 3 was actually in development but it had been cancelled a few years before that. Fast forward to July 2020, there was information about the sequel in the interactive storybook called The Final Hours of Half-Life: Alyx. It said that it was being developed in 2013 and was poised to be an open-world game set in Morocco, sticking to the formula of coming face-to-face with hordes of zombies. Reportedly, Left 4 Dead 3 was shelved due to the slow development of the Source 2 engine.

Dataminers have even found L4D3 in CS2 files, with a “priority – none” mentioned.

Left 4 Dead 3 spotted in CS2 files!
byu/PaP3s inSteam

Fans who were waiting for the release of Left 4 Dead 3 weren’t entirely disappointed though, because of the release of Back 4 Blood (a spiritual successor to Left 4 Dead 2) that came out on 12 October 2021.

Source: Turtle Rock Studios

Unfortunately, it didn’t quite hit the mark like L4D did.

Source: Steam Charts

At the time of writing, 4,624 players were in-game in Back 4 Blood while a whopping 45,153 players were active in Left 4 Dead 2. This clearly shows the vast difference in popularity and why Valve should give Left 4 Dead 3 a thought. It’s surprising to see a game that was released in 2009 still holds gamers’ attention 14 years later – that’s something many games have tried to do but failed. Maybe it’s the pressure to push the envelope or the big responsibility to not fail with such a famous franchise that’s stopping Valve.

Source: Valve

In case you want to scratch your zombie-slaying itch, there are quite a few alternatives you can try, including B4B, World War Z: Aftermath, and Killing Floor 2. However, for the best co-op zombie shooter experience, we recommend you dive back into Left 4 Dead 2, just like the thousands of players who feel the same.

While Left 4 Dead 3 stays shrouded in mystery, we wait for any official news and announcement from Valve.