The studio that developed the original Left 4 Dead is developing what sounds like a spiritual sequel: Back 4 Blood, described as a cooperative shooter against hordes of zombies. In other words, it sounds like the Left 4 Dead follow-up that Valve still hasn’t delivered.
Back 4 Blood is being developed by Turtle Rock Studios, the team that also created Evolve, and published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. In an FAQ posted to its website, Turtle Rock says it’s “going back to [its] roots and at the same time innovating on them.” The developer is keeping details on Back 4 Blood close to the vest; the studio hasn’t released any images of the game and teased “new features we aren’t ready to talk about just yet.”
However, Turtle Rock stressed that the game is not — at least in an official capacity — Left 4 Dead 3.
“Back 4 Blood is our own brand new, original IP,” the studio said. “You’ll be able to shoot up a lot of zombies like in Left 4 Dead, but there’s a whole lot of new stuff in Back 4 Blood which makes it unique.”
“It’s hard to overstate what an awesome opportunity this is. We get to return to a genre that was born in our studio with over ten years of additional experience and zombie ideas racked up in our brains,” said Chris Ashton, co-founder and design director, Turtle Rock Studios, in a news release. “We also have some of the best teammates in the business at WBIE who understand our development process and are equally committed to our player-first mentality. We love being able to announce, so we can start working with the community right away.”
“We are not resting on any past laurels. Our goal is to take all we’ve learned and push forward. We know that’s a tall order,” added Phil Robb, co-founder and creative director. “We’re growing the team considerably because we’re stepping up to the biggest challenge in this studio’s history. We know this title has to stand out and we fully intend to make that happen.”
Back 4 Blood will feature a campaign and player-versus-player combat, and will not be a battle royale game, Turtle Rock said. The game is bound for PlayStation 4, Windows PC, and Xbox One, and does not have an announced release date.
