Left 4 Dead 2 Boycott Group 18,000 strong

Written by: Chris McKenna

A picture of said protesters (But not really)

Many were pleased with last week’s announcement that Valve’s popular zombie holocaust simulator Left 4 Dead would be getting a sequel on November 17th of this year.

Some people: not so much.

A Steam group has been assembled, with membership over 18,000 (at the time of publication), to boycott the release. Calling Left 4 Dead 2 “Valve’s new money grab,” the protest group has outlined a series of complaints, and nailed them, Martin-Luther style, on Valve’s figurative (and virtual) church doors.

Check out the full story for the complete list of complaints.

WE RECOGNIZE:

-Valve is a company with financial needs and cannot be expected to survive without the release of new games.
-Judgment cannot be passed on the quality of Left 4 Dead 2 until its release.
-Left 4 Dead was, and is, a quality game which deserves the praise of the entire gaming community.

WE ARE COMMITTED:

-To holding Valve to its promise of free, continual updates to Left 4 Dead in order to build and sustain the community.
-To keeping the Left 4 Dead community together in order to improve the quality of online gaming.
-To supporting the model of continual updates Valve has set forth with its staple products like Team Fortress 2.

WE BELIEVE:
-The release of Left 4 Dead 2 as a stand-alone sequel will split the communities and decrease the quality of multiplayer gaming.
-The announced content of 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.
-Left 4 Dead has not yet received the support and content which Valve has repeatedly stated will be delivered.
-The release of Left 4 Dead 2 will make Left 4 Dead an obsolete purchase and inferior piece of software after only one year since release.

WE REQUEST:
-That Valve honor its commitment to release ongoing periodic content for Left 4 Dead.
-That Left 4 Dead 2 not be released as a stand-alone, full-priced sequel but as either a free update to Left 4 Dead or an expansion with full compatibility with basic Left 4 Dead owners.
-That Left 4 Dead owners be given discounts for Left 4 Dead 2, should it be released as premium content.

Therefore, we – the members of this Left 4 Dead 2 Boycott – promise to abstain from the purchase of Left 4 Dead 2 until our requests are addressed.

We’ve scheduled an interview with the creators of the L4D2 boycott group, check back later this week for the full scoop.

//